It's a Complicated Thing
by Snake Whisperer
Summary: Family, friends, boys, school, can it get anymore complicated? Sorry, I suck at summaries. WARNING there is a lemon in the later chapters.
1. Author's Note

Authors Note

DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything but the original characters and the story line


	2. Prologue

**It's A Complicated Thing**

**Prologue**

Mrs Stark looked down at her five-year-old daughter and the child smiled up at her cheekily. Her husband came over to them and picked up the little girl.

"How are you my little Willowtree?"

"I'm good papa. Do I have to go to the Potters' with you and mama?"

"Yes, they are our family, and besides, they have a son that is your age."

"Really? Why haven't I seen him before?"

"He gets into quite a bit of trouble with all the pranks that he pulls."

"Pranks?"

"George, you've just said the one thing I thought we'd agreed not to tell her?" he grinned sheepishly at his wife and put their daughter down.

"Sorry Maeve, it just slipped out," she sighed and kissed his cheek.

"Like father like daughter. We should be going, Juliette will be wondering where we are," the three Starks walked out the front door and over to their neighbours house. They knocked on the door and waited.

"Maeve, George, so glad you could make it. And this must be Willow," the woman had long black hair and hazel eyes that sparkled with mischief.

"Jules, don't scare the poor child," a man said as he carried a boy down the stairs.

"I don't wanna!" the kid was saying, Willow giggled and hid behind her mother's skirt.

"You don't have a choice in this James; do you want to leave Miss Stark to play by herself for the whole evening?"

"Who's she?" James asked as he was placed on his feet, he looked up at his parents. Willow stepped out from behind her mother and put her hands on her hips.

"I'm Miss Stark, though I like to be called Willow," the four adults smiled at each other as their children started to bicker.

"Okay, that's enough from the two of you, dinner will be starting soon and you will be sitting with Mr Malfoy's son, Lucius," James made a face as they were ushered into the large dining room; Willow covered her mouth to keep from laughing. They were sat at a table where a boy with bleach blonde hair was already sitting; he was about three years older than them and had the arrogance that many pure-blood children had. Willow hated that type of arrogance.

"I'm Lucius Malfoy, and you are?"

"James Potter."

"Willow Stark. Do you like pranks?"

"Most certainly not, they are childish and inappropriate, and they are beneath our kind."

"Our kind?" Willow frowned as James glared at the boy.

*_if he says pure-bloods I might just murder him*_

_-You know that you aren't allowed to do that anymore-_

_*well... I'll pull the biggest prank ever pulled on him*_

_-Ooooh, so scared (note the sarcasm)-_

_*shut up*_

_-Why don't you make me?-_

_*I don't make trash, I bury it*_

_-Does that make you trash then? This is your mind after all-_

_*Sod off*_

"You know, pure-bloods, pranks are beneath us, they are the work of filthy mudbloods," Willow stood and went over to her mother and father. Her father leaned down to hear her.

"I don't want to sit with that blond boy, he is rude and insufferable and he called muggleborns the bad word," she whispered into his ear. George glanced over at the boy and sighed, he and Maeve hadn't taught Willow how to deal with this sort of thing yet, not without their help. He looked up at Christian Malfoy and saw the man getting up. He stood as well and took Willow back to the table.

"I want you to be civil Lucius; we do not speak vulgar words or be rude when there is a lady present, I know you know the rules."

"Yes father, sorry father," Christian walked off. And George pulled out Willow's chair.

"Mr Malfoy, I would appreciate if you keep your opinions about muggleborns and half-bloods to yourself for the remainder of dinner."

"Yes, sir," George nodded and kissed Willow's forehead before going back to his wife. Lucius glared at Willow, she just took a drink from her glass and looked at herself in the reflection of her spoon. The food was brought out and the three children ate silently as they listened to the adults talk.

"So," James started after a while. "Are you two looking at getting into Hogwarts?"

"Yes, I plan to be in Slytherin like my family has been for generations. What about you?"

"I think I would like to be in Gryffindor, the house of the brave and noble," Willow snorted at this and James turned to her. "What?"

"You just want to be able to pull of pranks without being called evil by the whole school."

"There is that," the pair grinned at each other, Malfoy rolled his eyes and continued to eat his food. "What house do you want to be in Willow?"

"Ravenclaw or Gryffindor, I'm not sure which yet, I'll figure it out when I get there," they finished the three course meal in silence and Malfoy went to his parents. James and Willow snuck around the room; they had a balloon full of red wine. They threw it at Lucius Malfoy and ran. They went up to James' room and laughed. They played a game of exploding snap before lying down on his bed and talking.

George, Maeve, Juliette and Henry walked up the stairs to James' room, they knew that their children were responsible for the state that Lucius Malfoy had left the party in. They opened the door, ready to reprimand the two five-year-olds, but stopped when they saw that they were asleep on James' bed. They looked so peaceful that they couldn't bear to scold them, or wake them up to do so.

"Juliette, I'll come by tomorrow and collect Willow, I don't want to wake her," George and Maeve kissed their daughter's cheek and said goodbye to their friends before going home.

"I think that she and James are going to become very close to each other, like siblings."

"I believe that you are right dearest husband."

* * *

><p>James and Willow squealed as they were splashed by their mothers in the waist high water of the pond and swam away from them. They had been friends since the party almost four years ago and they were almost inseparable.<p>

"James, Willow, get out of the pond and come dry off, Henry is taking you out for a surprise," the two children looked up at George, then scrambled out of the pond and ran into the house. They were dressed and ready to go in ten minutes; they ran back down the stairs and crashed into Henry.

"Where are we going?" they asked at the same time, they looked at each other in horror, they had never spoken at the same time. Henry and George laughed and they each took a child's hand and apparated away.

"That was the coolest thing ever," Willow was still bouncing around her bedroom. James was laughing at her antics. Henry and George had taken them to a Quidditch match between Puddlemere United and the Chudley Cannons. Puddlemere had won.

"Did you see the Beaters? They were so cool, and they hit the Bludgers so hard and fast that it was a wonder that they only bruised and broke bones of the other players and didn't knock anyone out. I wanna be like that."

"Well, try out for the Quidditch team at Hogwarts; we are going there in two years."

"You're right Jamesie-poo."

"Never call me that again," he groaned, realising his mistake too late.

"Jamesie-poo, Jamesie-poo, Jamesie-poo, Jamesie-poo, don't you know better than to tell me not to do something, Jamesie-poo, Jamesie-poo," she skipped around him, chanting the new name. He growled and dived after her; she squealed and ran from the room. They ran around the house for a while, before she tripped and fell down.

"Will! Are you okay?" James knelt beside her and helped her sit up.

"I think I broke my arm," there were tears in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. Maeve and Juliette ran into the room and over to their children. Willow looked up at her mother and the woman sighed.

"Okay, to St. Mungos it is," she lifted her daughter and took James' hand, knowing that the boy would want to come and that Willow would want him there. She apparated and they landed in the waiting room of St. Mungos.


	3. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

Year One

Willow Stark stood next to her cousin as she stared at the steam train that was in front of her. James Potter laughed at her expression and she poked her tongue out at him.

"I'm gonna go find some girls to talk to, you have fun trying to not be a prat," she moved off, then turned to him. "Jamesie-poo!" she yelled out at him, he couldn't chase her as she was swallowed by the crowd, but he could hear her laughter. She found a compartment and sat down. She was joined a few minutes later by three girls.

"Hi, mind if we sit with you?"

"Not at all, it's the reason I left my cousin."

"Cool, I'm Mary MacDonald, by the way," the girl had oval glasses and long brown hair; she had a distinct Scottish accent.

"I'm Willow Stark."

"Martha Hornby," the girl had pale blonde hair and pale skin that now had roses in her cheeks, and blue eyes.

"I'm Aisling Vector," she had dark brown hair and blue-grey eyes. The girls all smiled at each other and settled in as the train started to move. Willow sighed when she saw a girl and a boy storming down the corridor; she just knew that her cousin was involved in this somehow. She stood and went to the door; she opened it and poked her head out.

"Did you happen to run into a boy with messy black hair and round glasses?" the girl looked at her; she had red hair and bright green eyes that were snapping with anger.

"Yes, I hope that you do not know him personally, I have never met anyone so arrogant."

"Well, I'm sure that he will either grow out of it or learn his lesson, though he is a stubborn prat so that might take a few years," she sighed and watched the pair walk away. She looked back at the girls in her compartment.

"I'll be back in a moment," she walked out and went down the corridor; she stopped outside the one that had laughter coming from it. She opened the door and stared at the two boys in it. One was James; the other was a boy with silky black hair and stormy grey eyes.

"Are you preparing to go to the land of reflecting hair?" James snorted and the other boy smirked at her.

"No, what are you doing in our compartment little girl?"

"I just ran into a girl, she looked livid, and she said something about a boy with messy black hair and round glasses. Now doesn't that sound like my cousin, Jamesie-poo?"

"I told you to stop calling me that!" Willow just grinned at him evilly.

"Jamesie-poo?" the other boy asked, looking like he wanted to laugh his head off. Willow gave him her best glare.

"Yes and only I am allowed to call him that, I dare you to use it under pain of death."

"She means that too," James muttered.

"Why were you harassing the girl with red hair? Or the boy she was with?" James shrugged and didn't say anything. "Oh, I see. Well… bye." She turned and walked out again; she went back to the compartment and sat down. She stared out the window and watched the world go by. Her new friends looked at her in confusion, they got even more confused when the compartment door opened and a boy with messy black hair and glasses leaned in.

"Willow? Can I talk to you?"

"No, go away."

"Please Will? I want to apologise."

"I don't want to talk to you at the moment, maybe when we arrive at school," she could see his reflection in the window, could see the hurt and disappointment on his face.

"Okay, I'll talk to you later," he left and she bit her lip and forced herself to stay seated.

"Willow, who was that and why didn't you talk to him and what did he do that would make him want to apologise?"

"His name is James Potter, I've known him since I was born; we are like brother and sister. I tell him everything and he usually tells me everything. I didn't want to talk to him because not ten minutes ago; he didn't talk to me. He didn't answer my question; he always answers my questions, even if it is just a silly response. I'll forgive him when the train stops," the other girls nodded and eventually got her to at least talk with them, if not laugh with them. 

Mary and Willow ended up sharing a boat with the redhead that James had pissed off, Willow could hear James joking with two other boys to her right, she turned, trying to see them, but she couldn't.

"Jamie, I forgive you," she said, knowing that he would hear.

"Thanks Will, and I really am sorry."

"I know," she smiled, glad that they were back to normal. The boats docked and all the first years climbed out. They followed Hagrid into the castle and Willow couldn't help but stare around her in wonder. They stopped before a set of large double doors and were told to wait. A woman with glasses and a pointed hat came over to them, a scroll of parchment in her hands.

"I am Professor McGonagall, and Deputy Headmistress of this school. You will be sorted into your houses momentarily; there are four houses, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor and Slytherin. Wait here a moment while I make sure that all the other students are ready for you," she walked off and the first years all started to whisper among themselves. McGonagall came back and they all fell silent.

"We are ready for you now," they followed her into a huge hall and through the middle of the four house tables to the front of the hall.

"Now, when I call your name, come up and sit on the stool. I place the sorting hat on your head and you will be sorted into your houses. Sirius Black!" the boy who had been sitting with James went up and sat on the stool. The hat was placed on his head; he glared up at the rim, causing quite a few students to chuckle.

"GRYFFINDOR!" there was shock throughout the hall, any child who grew up in the wizarding world knew that all Blacks went into Slytherin.

"Sarch Banson!" "HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Dimitri Daratrazanoff!" "GRYFFINDOR!"

"Lily Evans!" the redhead walked up confidently and sat down on the stool, the hat was placed on her head.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Xavier Flint!" "SLYTHERIN!"

"Martha Hornby!" "GRYFFINDOR!"

"Remus Lupin!" "GRYFFINDOR!"

"Mary MacDonald!" "GRYFFINDOR!"

"Ian MacDougal!" "RAVENCLAW!"

"Peter Pettigrew!" "GRYFFINDOR!"

"James Potter!" "GRYFFINDOR!"

"Alice Prewett!" "RAVENCLAW!"

"Severus Snape!" the boy who was with Lily on the train, he had greasy hair and a large nose.

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Willow Stark!" she went up warily and sat on the stool, the hat was placed on her head and it dropped down over her eyes.

"HMM… INTERESTING, VERY INTEREASTING…" _you sound like Olivander, are you two related by any chance? _"YOU LOVE PRANKS AND JOKES I SEE… YOU ARE VERY INTELLIGENT, MORE SO THAN ANYONE REALISES… THERE IS GREAT WIT AND LOGIC IN YOUR MIND… AND AN UNHEALTHY DOES OF MISCHEIF MAKING… YOU ARE BRAVE, MORE SO THAN A MERE RAVENCLAW… BUT YOUR SMARTS SET YOU AMONG THEM, EVEN THOUGH YOU AREN'T A SUCK UP LIKE THEM… IT BETTER BE…"

"GRYFFINDOR!" Willow stood and went to sit with Mary.

"Aisling Vector!" "GRYFFINDOR!"

"Cara Zabini!" "SLYTHERIN!" Willow turned to Mary and the two girls silently laughed at the girl who waddled over to the Slytherin table. Professor Dumbledore stood up and the hall fell silent.

"Just a few words before we eat, to all first years it should be known that the Forbidden Forest is called that for a reason, there are many dangerous creatures in there. Quidditch trails will be held during the second and third week of term for those who wish to represent their houses. Let the feast begin," he clapped his hands and sat down.

* * *

><p>"Potter! Give it back!" Willow sighed and looked up from her assignment to see what her cousin was doing to Lily Evans this time. He had her assignment and was holding it out of her reach.<p>

"James, give it back to her, you can copy mine when I'm finished," she called out; he made a face, but gave Lily back her assignment. He walked over to Willow and sat on the table next to her.

"How long are you going to stops fights between me and Evans?"

"A few weeks, if that. Why don't you find Black and go annoy some Slytherins?" he grinned at her and walked away, she shook her head and finished the last paragraph of her assignment. Lily came over and sat opposite her.

"Thanks for that."

"No problems, he does that a lot and it drives our parents up the wall."

"Really?" Mary asked as she sat next to Lily.

"Yeah. I live next door to him; our mothers are twin sisters. I've been dealing with James for as long as I can remember. He is six months older than me and I've had years to learn his tricks, yet he is still surprising me," the three girls smiled at each other. They went back to their assignments, Lily and Willow doing Transfiguration and Mary doing Potions.

"I hate bloody potions!" Mary hissed an hour later, throwing down her quill. Lily and Willow looked at each other and grinned.

"O Mary, Queen of the Scots, of course you hate potions," Lily said.

"It is after all your worst and most hated subject," Willow said with a laugh.

"Yeah, I know," the scot said with a sheepish grin and a blush coming to her cheeks. The three looked up as Aisling, Martha and Alice walked over.

"Hi Lily, this is Alice," Martha said as they sat down. They started talking quietly among themselves. There was a loud boom that echoed around the school. Willow groaned and dropped her head onto the table.

"Why? Why did I have to open my big mouth?" the other girls laughed. They packed up their homework and headed up to the Gryffindor common room, even though Alice was in Ravenclaw. They sat in a corner and Willow started to tell them one of the many embarrassing stories about James. The boys walked in as the girls were laughing. The hair of Lupin, Black and James was sticking up and their faces and clothes were streaked with soot. James saw her and started over to her.

"No," she jumped up and backed away from him. "Don't you dare, I told you to 'annoy' them not to blow anything up. I hope your mother sends you a howler for this." He grinned at her and pounced, throwing his arms around her.

"Thank you even though you don't want to hear it," he said.

"Get off me ye great oaf!" she yelled at him, her mother's Irish heritage showing through in her voice. "Yer crushin' me ribs." James let her go and she went back over to the girls. He went over to Lupin and Black.

"It's only been a month," she groaned, letting her head fall onto Lily's shoulder. "And I know that he won't get any more mature in the next seven years, I actually think he will get worse before he realises that he's being a prat. Save me Lils."

"Sorry, but I want as little to do with Potter as possible. But it might be fun to prank him and his friends. It would make for a very interesting seven years."

"True," Mary grinned. "It would be even better if they got blamed for a prank on other people instead of us." Will looked at Mary, an evil, mischievous grin spreading across her face. The six girls huddled and started to plan. Across the room James was watching and started to worry. Willow was practically his sister, therefore he knew when she was planning a big prank, and he usually got blamed for it.

"What you looking at?" Sirius asked him.

"At Willow, she's planning something big and I have a feeling that we aren't going to like it."

"Really?" Sirius looked over at the groups of girls and had to agree with James. Their grins were decidedly evil.

"Yeah, she only gets that look before she pulls a prank that I usually get blamed for."

"Should be funny then," Remus and James stared at the friend, wondering if they should question his mental status or not.

The four boys stared at the scene that greeted them as they walked into the entrance hall three days later. All the students and teachers had bright pink skin, electric blue hair and were wearing highlighter purple and green robes. Only the boys were the only normal ones. They looked at each other and knew that the girls had been responsible.

"James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. What have you got to say for yourselves?" Professor McGonagall demanded. She looked absolutely livid.

"Ah, we didn't do it?" James asked, not at all hopeful that she would believe him, and he was right.

"My office. Now!" they walked behind McGonagall. James saw Will hiding behind a statue, she blew him a kiss, eyes alight with mischief. He sighed and tried not to smile at the completely Willow like behaviour.

James got her back a few weeks later in a prank that he thought would just frighten her a little. He levitated her and dropped her into the black lake before running off to the castle. Willow had never learnt how to swim; only her parents and James' parents knew. It was only luck that prevented her from drowning. She saw a seventh-year boy walking by the lake.

"Help!" she cried out, hoping that they would see her and hoping that it wasn't a Slytherin. He looked around at the cry and saw her go under. He dropped his bag, removed his cloak and kicked his shoes off before jumping into the lake. He caught her around the waist and brought her to shore. He laid her on her back and checked if she was breathing, she wasn't. He pressed down on her chest a few times and water spurted from her mouth, she started to choke and he put her on her side until all the water was gone. He put his shoes on, then his bag. He wrapped her in his cloak and carried her to the hospital wing.

"Mr Wood? What are you doing here?" madam Pompfrey saw the little girl in his arms. "Oh dear, put her over here. What happened to her?"

"I'm not sure, I saw her cousin, Potter, running past me as I walked outside. She called out to me and I just dived into the lake. It was obvious that she couldn't swim. She had about a litre of water in her lungs though."

"Thank you, now get into that bed over there, no arguments," he sighed and did as she said.

"Lily! Lily!" Mary ran into the Gryffindor common room and over to the four girls doing their homework. They looked up, as did the only other four in the room.

"What's the emergency Mary?"

"It's Will; she's in the hospital wing. We have to go," all five girls stood and ran from the room. James had gone white.

"Are you alright mate?" Sirius asked, James shook his head. He stood and ran from the room. He beat the girls by using all the shortcuts that he had found. He walked over to Willow's bed and stared down at her white face, her breathing didn't sound right either. He took her hand in his and felt tears come to his eyes.

"I'm so sorry Willowbee, so very, very sorry," he whispered. He looked up as footsteps sounded behind him and he saw McGonagall.

"Professor Dumbledore would like to see you," he nodded, kissed Willow's forehead and followed McGonagall. He didn't even think about disobeying or protesting, not with the image of Willow looking like she was at deaths door permanently burned into his mind.

"Professor McGonagall, will Willow be okay?"

"Yes, Mr Potter, she'll be fine, she was just cold and had swallowed quite a bit of water," she looked down at the boy and knew that no matter what Dumbledore said to the boy nothing would punish him as much as the image of Willow in the hospital wing haunting him for the next few months, maybe even years.

Willow stared at the red envelope that James was holding, she knew what it was and knew what it was about. James opened it and it came to life.

"JAMES HAROLD POTTER! HOW DARE YOU DROP WILLOW INTO THE BLACK LAKE! SHE COULD HAVE DROWNED! SHE COULD HAVE DIED! YOU ARE JUST LUCKY THAT MR WOOD WAS WALKING BY! IF YOU EVER ENDANGER THE LIFE OF ANOTHER STUDENT AGAIN THERE WILL BE SEVERE CONSEQUENCES! YOUR FATHER AND I RAISED YOU BETTER THAN THIS! WILLOW IS PRACTICALLY YOUR SISTER! WE ARE VERY DISAPPOINTED IN YOU!" the letter tore itself to pieces and James sat staring at it. Willow stared at James, waiting for his reaction.

"James?" Sirius asked, Will glared at him. James stood and walked out of the hall.

"Thanks for that Black," Willow stood and ran after James. She followed him at a jog as he walked a hell of a lot faster than her. He didn't stop until he reached the astronomy tower.

"It's not your fault. If I had told you that I couldn't swim you would have found another way to prank me. I should have told you, but I didn't want you to think that I was a weak girl."

"It doesn't matter. Moms right, I put your life in danger and that is not right," Will stepped forward and put her arms around him, resting her forehead against his back.

"If I could swim, I would go into the lake just to see how much panic I could create. Then I would get my own howler from my mom. You know that it's true Jamie," she was shaking with compressed laughter. James snorted, and then joined in.

"We're going to be late you know, and we have potions first," She said as they calmed down.

"Bloody hell, you're right. Let's go," they ran all the way from the top most tower all the way into the dungeons. They apologised to Professor Slughorn about being late and took their seats. She sat down between Lily and Mary. Mary wasn't paying any attention so Lily passed her the notes that she had already taken before going back to her own work.

"Thanks Lils," she whispered as she took the parchment with the notes on it and copied them to her own parchment before handing it back to Lily. Both Will and Mary ignored Severus Snape who was working on the other side of Lily. They made faces at Slughorn whenever he had his back to them.

"I want three feet on the properties of the Mandrake Drought, as well as how it is made and administered," Slughorn said at the end of class. Willow and Mary groaned, Lily shot them a reproving look, Snape sneered at them while Lily wasn't looking.

"I really, really dislike greasy-Locks," Will whispered to Mary as they watched Lily and Snape outside the classroom.

"How long do you think it'll take her to see the light?" Mary asked.

"She'll defend him until he calls her what he calls all other muggleborns. So, probably a few more years yet. He guards what he says around her."

"You're right, I hate it when you're right," Mary whined and Willow laughed. Lily turned to them as Mary started to grin.

"I'll talk to you later Sev," she said and walked over to her two friends. He glared at the two girls before storming off.

"What's so funny?"

"Mary doesn't like it when I'm right," Willow said, still laughing.

"And laughter is contagious," Mary added. Lily was starting to giggle.

"And it's hard to stop once we've started," all three girls were now laughing. James, Sirius, Remus and Peter came down the hallway; they paused as they saw the three girls.

"Did someone slip you a laughing potion?" Sirius asked.

"No, it's an inside joke," Will gasped and started laughing again, setting off Lily and Mary. James shook his head at his cousin.

"You're going to be late for Herbology if you don't get moving soon," Remus murmured, just loud enough for the girls to hear. They stopped laughing, looked at each other and took off at a run. The boys followed at a more sedate pace.


	4. Chapter 2

Willow's POV

What. The. Hell.

I used my index finger to curl a slit in the curtain and cracked a reluctant eye open to peek at the window. Ah, there it was again. The annoying sound of something splattering against the window pane. Now that the window was visible, I could see the giant white ball hurtling towards it and then go SPLAT. Now, why was someone throwing snowballs at my window so early in the frigid morning? I have no idea. What will happen to said person throwing the cold white stuff? They will die an extremely agonizing death if they make me get up out of my nice warm bed.

"Who is that...?" Aisling mumbled.

"Foo iv vhat?" Martha grumbled. I scrunched my eyebrows together, momentarily distracted my roommate's bad grammar. I know it's early in the morning and honestly, who can completely form a sentence in English this early, but nothing in that sentence was a word.

"Come again?" I asked.

"We speak English in this dorm, Mar." Lily groaned.

"Mmmhmmm." she replied.

"She's talking and she's not even conscious." Alice muttered; she had stayed in our dorm for the night; we were making it a winter tradition.

"Why are y'all jabbering when I could be sleepin'?" Mary snapped.

"Well, now we know who _isn't _a morning person." I murmured.

"Shut up."

"Civility ladies," Lily chided.

"Yeah Mary, be a lady."

"I will when you will, Will." Another snowball went SPLAT.

"Seriously!" Alice cried. I heard her flit over to the window, swearing as her feet touched the cold floor.

"Ugh, it's James and Sirius. What on Earth are they doing?" I groaned and shoved my head into my pillow. A blast of cold air had us all swearing like sailors.

"What do you want?" I heard Alice shriek.

"We want you ladies to get up!"

"It's too bloody early!"

"No one else is up!"

"There's a reason for that, Black."

"Shut the damn window!" Lily growled.

"Good-bye now." Alice said.

"C'mon!" James protested. And then I felt something cold hit my curtain and lean against my leg. I flew up from my bed and crouched on my pillow, glaring at the offending snowball.

"The snow has entered my inner sanctum." I said lowly. I stared intensely at the snow, as if it would move and attack at any moment. I heard a roaring laughter and scowled. I calmly got up from my bed, changed into pants and a sweater and put on my boots.

"What are you doing?" Alice asked wearily.

"I'm going to decrease the Gryffindor population by two." I left the common room and ran down to the ground floor and outside. I jumped onto James and he fell into the snow. I pushed his face into it, then jumped up and ran over to Black, I jumped on his back and he fell into the snow. I rubbed snow in his hair, then got up and ran back into the castle. I ran all the way to Ravenclaw, gave the answer to the door and went in to sit on one of the couches. Alice was already there, probably because she can't get back to sleep after being awoken from it. I like having a place that I could go to hide out that wasn't Gryffindor. Alice grinned at me, clearly knowing why I was here and not at Gryffindor.

"Nice work, but that wasn't decreasing the Gryffindor population."

"I know, but mom would kill me if I killed James." Alice laughed and I joined in. I really liked that I was smart enough to get into this common room and that I was safe with the knowledge that James and Black couldn't.

"It's Christmas!" Willow groaned and she rolled over in bed. "Come on Will! We've got presents!" that got Will up, she tumbled out of the bed and started opening her presents. She put on the hand knitted jumper that her aunt had made her; it was black with the Ballycastle Bats on the back and a scarlet bat on her front. She put all her other presents into a box and put on the clothes that she was going to wear for the day.

"Let's go wake the boys, James always sleeps in," they smiled and went down to the common room, then up to the first-year boys' dorms. As Willow had guessed all but one of the boys were asleep.

"What are you doing here?" Black demanded, watching Willow sneak over to James' bed. She ignored him.

"It's Christmas and, according to Will, if someone doesn't wake James, he won't get up until dinner," Mary said, just as Willow jumped up onto James' bed. She jumped a few times, then stopped and narrowed her eyes at him when he only grumbled and rolled over. Sirius and Mary were laughing now, waking up the other boys. Frank and Remus sat up and watched as Willow jumped from the bed to the floor.

"Okay, this calls for the one thing that never fails," she leaned in close to James' ear.

"JAMES! THE ROOM IS ON FIRE! IT IS ABOUT TO DESTROY YOUR BROOM!" she yelled. He bolted up right, looked around, then glared at her. She grinned innocently at him.

"I hate it when you do that," he grumbled as he put his glasses on.

"You know you love me Jamesie-poo," she blew him a kiss and waltzed over to Mary. "Let's go to breakfast, I'm hungry." The pair linked arms and skipped out of the dorm, through the common room and out the portrait hole. They were laughing half an hour later down at the Gryffindor table when the boys finally joined them.

* * *

><p>"Potter!" James looked up, expecting to see an angry Lily. He was surprised to see Willow instead, Mary behind her.<p>

"What did you do to Sir Teddykins?" he looked at the bear that she held out to him, it was the one that his mother had given her for her sixth birthday. It wasn't its usual honey-brown colour, but a highlighter pink. It was the one colour that Willow absolutely loathed.

"I didn't touch him. And I would only turn him pink if I wanted to die."

"Then who did it? You are the only one that knew about him!" James went red and his eyes darted over her shoulder at the person who had walked into the common room. She threw the teddy at James.

"Fix him," she spun and glared at Black. "Sirius Black! You're a dead man!" Sirius looked at the murderous look on her face, the pink teddy-bear that James was trying to charm back to normal, and spun on his heel to run back out of the room. Willow gave chase. James got the bear back to normal and walked over to where Lily and Alice were doing their homework.

"What do you want Potter?" Lily asked.

"Um, can you please put this back on Willow's bed as I can't get up the stairs?"

"Fine," She took the bear and went up stairs. James went and sat with Remus, Peter and Sirius again. They watched as Lily and Mary had a whispered conversation and then left the common room.

"We better go find Will before she really does kill Sirius," they stood and walked out of the common room after the girls.

Mary and Lily found that Willow had Sirius cornered on the fourth floor. Black was laughing; Will had her wand point trained on him.

"The boy has a death wish," Mary muttered, Lily nodded her agreement and walked up behind Willow.

"Willow!" she yelled, right in her ear.

"Eek! Lily!" Willow squealed and turned to face her friend. There was mischief in her eyes.

"We have come to stop you from committing murder."

"You don't need to worry. I'm all good now. But he was laughing at me," she sighed but allowed her two friends to drag her away. James, Remus and Peter found them a floor up. James grabbed Willow.

"What did you do with his body?" He demanded.

"Wouldn't you like to know," she said with an evil grin. Lily sighed and put a hand over Willow's mouth.

"Potter, let her go, he's alive and probably confused on the floor below us," the boys ran off and the girls laughed and continued to the Gryffindor common room.

* * *

><p>The six girls were standing together on platform 9¾, saying their goodbyes to each other.<p>

"Promise that you will write to me," Lily said and the other five nodded with laughs.

"We need to make a day to all get together," Mary said.

"Yeah, and we have to teach Will how to swim," Alice giggled. Willow poked her tongue out at all of her friends.

"Willow, time to go home," Will hugged each of the girls one more time and ran over to her mother. She saw her father near the fireplaces and ran over to him.

"Papa!" she exclaimed as he swept her up into his arms.

"Argh, my little Willowtree isn't so little any more. How was your first year of school?"

"It was so cool," he listened as she told him everything that she had done in the year, only pausing when they flooed home. She told him of all the pranks that she had pulled and the friends that she had made, and that she didn't like Sirius Black that much.

"And how many did James get in trouble for that he shouldn't have?"

"Ninety percent," her grin was cheeky and mischievous and slightly pixie like. She giggled and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Tired chickpea?"

"Just a little. Can I have a nap before dinner?"

"Sure," he carried her up the stairs and gently lay her down in her bed. He pulled the covers up over her and kissed her on the forehead.

"Love you papa. I missed you."

"I love you to my little Willowtree and I don't know what I will do when I have to send you back in two months," she giggled slightly and her eyes drifted shut. He waited until she fell asleep before walking out of her room and closing the door quietly behind him.


	5. Chapter 3

Year Two

Willow, Mary and Lily sat at the Gryffindor table, a muggle note book resting between them. It was the second day of school and they were already planning one of their biggest pranks. Willow was writing as Lily and Mary told her the spells and formulae that would be needed. They kept arguing in low whispers, shaking their heads and usually resolved by Willow scribbling something down. One of them would glance up every few seconds to make sure that no one was near enough to see what they were writing or hear what they were saying. This made James, Sirius and Remus groan, thinking that the girls were creating a prank that they would be getting the blame for. Willow suddenly shut the book and hid it under her cloak as she noticed Professor McGonagall walking down the aisle. The woman looked at the three girls with suspicion, but didn't say anything to them about the fake innocent looks on their faces.

"Here are your schedules girls," the three thanked the woman and she walked off. The three girls collected their stuff and stood up.

"So, we do it on All Hollow's Day?" Willow asked as they walked past the boys.

"Definitely, that is the perfect day," Mary said, Lily nodded her agreement and the three went to their Herbology class. The boys stared at them for the rest of the day. In their free time they were writing in the notebook and whispering to each other, and looking around to make sure that no one was nearby. It was making the boys very paranoid.

* * *

><p>The three girls watched the prank unfold from their hiding place. Dumbledore looked down at his robes, which were now splotches of all the colours in the rainbow. He then looked up, straight at them.<p>

"Nicely done girls, I couldn't have done better myself," his blue eyes twinkled at them behind his half-moon glasses. "Now, you had better get to the Great Hall. It is Halloween after all and the feast is tonight." The trio smiled at him and ran down to the hall. They were still grinning as they sat at the Gryffindor table. Dumbledore walked in a few moments later and everyone bar three stared at his attire in shock. The trio were hard pressed to keep from laughing.

* * *

><p>Willow stared in consternation at the mouse that she had been trying to turn into an elegant crystal glass. It looked like a glass; it was just furry, had a tail and was still emitting sounds of a mouse. She could hear Black snickering behind her at her failed first attempt and scowled. She was just glad that James wasn't laughing at her, at least not out loud he wasn't. She sighed and waved her wand at the glass and it became a mouse again. She repeated the spell and it turned into a proper glass. She repeated this five or six more times before McGonagall was satisfied that she knew the spell. By the end of class only Lily, Alice, Remus, Willow and James could successfully change the mouse into a glass and back again without any problems six out of six times. Sirius could do it four out of six times. The girls were laughing as they walked out of class.<p>

"I'll see you guys at lunch," Alice went to Charms with the Hufflepuffs while the Gryffindors went to History of Magic with the Slytherins.

* * *

><p>The six girls always alternated between the Gryffindor table and the Ravenclaw table for lunch and breakfast each week. This week they were at the Ravenclaw table. They were all laughing at a joke that Martha had heard when the morning post arrived. Willow frowned when she saw the family owl coming her way. It dropped a letter and she opened it. Her face drained of colour and she stared at the letter. It was only by chance that James looked over at them at the exact moment that she paled. He frowned and saw that the girls had also noticed that something was wrong. Willow shrugged them off and stood up. She walked out of the Great Hall. James excused himself from his friends and followed her. He saw her go into an empty classroom and followed her in.<p>

"Willow? What's happened?" he asked quietly, and then caught her as she threw her arms around his neck. She buried her face in his shoulder.

"She's dead. Death Eaters killed her. She can't go, she's my mommy," she sobbed into his shoulder. "I want her back, she mine." He held her close and didn't move or let her go, not even when the bell went. He didn't tell her that everything would be alright, because he knew that it wouldn't and it wouldn't help. When she had stopped crying he leaned back a little and looked down at her.

"Do you want to go talk to Dumbledore?" she nodded slightly and they walked out of the room, he took her hand and she walked close to him. They were stopped on the fourth floor by Professor McGonagall.

"What are you two doing out of class?" she demanded.

"Going to see professor Dumbledore," James replied. McGonagall looked at them and noticed the letter that was clenched in Willow's hand, and the tear stains on her cheeks.

"Follow me."

* * *

><p>James and Willow stood outside the church; they had gotten home two days before. James noticed that she was fiddling with her black skirt and took her hand in his. She looked up at him and the look in her eyes made him pull her into a hug. Her father came over, as did James' parents. Willow moved away from James and held her father's hand. The five entered the church and sat in the first pew. Willow sat on her father's lap and listened to the sermon that was given. Tears silently rolled over her cheeks as she stared at the closed coffin. She could feel her father tremble behind her and knew that he was just as devastated as she was. She leaned back against him and he wrapped his arms around her. They sat like that until everyone else left the room.<p>

"Daddy?" she asked later that night before she went to bed. He was sitting at the dining room table.

"Yes Willow?"

"Promise that you will always love me? And that you will never leave me all alone?"

"Oh, bub, of course I promise," he held out his arms and she ran into them for a hug. "I love you and I will always love you. And I will do whatever it takes to always be here for you. You are my little Willowtree and you always will be."

"I love you too papa, 'night," she kissed his cheek and walked out of the room. She climbed the stairs to her bed room and climbed into her bed. About an hour later, when she was finally nodding off to sleep someone climbed in through her balcony door and joined her in the bed.

"Hey Willowbee, go to sleep. I'll be here when you wake."

"Thanks Jamie," she mumbled, he kissed her forehead and wrapped his arms around her. They fell asleep and were woken in the morning by her father.

* * *

><p>Willow tossed around in her bed at Hogwarts. She and James had returned about a month ago and she still had nightmares three out of seven nights a week. They had only told their friends that there had been a slight family issue. They hadn't been asked anything more on it and for that they were thankful.<p>

"Bugger," Will sighed as she realised that she wasn't going to get to sleep. She grabbed her teddy-bear and swung her legs out of her bed. She stood and quietly slipped out of the girls' dorm. She walked down the stairs to the common room and up the boys' stairs to the second-year boys' door. She knocked on the door lightly five times, waited for the count of ten and knocked four times. It opened and a very sleepy looking Sirius glared at her.

"What the hell do you want Stark?" he growled at her. She looked down at her bare feet.

"James," she hated that her voice shook. Sirius lost the scowl on his face and stared at the top of her head, wondering just what had her so shaken up that her voice would shake when it was always rock steady.

"You know that he won't wake up."

"I know… I… I just… he… please?" she could feel the tears building up in her eyes and blinked them away.

"Fine," he let her in. He watched as she went over to James' bed and leaned down. Whatever she whispered into his ear made him open his eyes and lift the covers. Sirius shook his head and went to his own bed as Willow climbed in with James.

* * *

><p>"Potter!" Lily shrieked as she came into the Gryffindor common room from the girls' dorms. James stopped tickling Willow and looked up at the infuriated girl. He tried to look innocent as he saw that the girl's normally fiery red hair was a sickly green. Willow lifted herself up and stared at her friend, and then she hit James over the back of the head.<p>

"I did not teach you that spell so that you could use it to jinx Lily's hair!" she yelled in his ear. He flinched, then jumped up and ran away. "Lily, come here and I'll reverse it." The girl walked over and Willow turned her hair back to the normal red colour. Lily then sat next to her. Mary came down the stairs and lay across their laps. The three of them laughed and Mary sat up.

"Willow, we need to get that boy back for his unforgivable prank on my hair."

"I totally agree with you. And it just so happens that I have the perfect prank all set out. Do you want it to be a surprise for you as well?"

"Hmm… I believe I do, then if he blames me I can honestly say that I didn't know what was going to happen or when. Tell me nothing of this plan."

"All right then. So you don't mind if I get Alice to help this time? As all of us are in Gryffindor and she isn't."

"Not at all," Lily and Mary said together. Willow smiled and stood up. She stretched and started to walk away. "I'll see you girls later." Lily and Mary grinned at each other as they watched their friend saunter from the common room. Willow didn't bother to go get Alice just yet, she went down to the kitchens for a snack instead.

"Oh Alice darling," Willow said in a sing-song tone the next morning as she flounced into the great hall for breakfast. The marauders looked up as did the five girls, and many other students throughout the hall. They all saw the gleam of mischief in her eyes. The boys almost groaned at the look, having become far too familiar with it. Alice smiled at her friend, grabbed three pieces of toast and stood up. She handed two of the pieces to Willow as they walked out of the hall again. They weren't seen again for the next three days. When they did reappear they looked tired but happy, very happy.

"Where have you been?" James demanded as she sat next to him.

"Busy. I can't tell you what with, though," she lay her head on his shoulder and he sighed.

"You can't use me as a pillow," he said.

"Fine," she lifted her head and dropped it onto Remus' shoulder. Remus looked at her, then went back to staring at his food, he was a worse morning person that Willow was, and that was with a full night's sleep. James looked at his two friends and sighed, smiling slightly.

"Willow! What did you do?" James yelled at her as he walked into the Gryffindor common room. Willow looked up from where she was doing her potions assignment with Lily and Mary. James' hair was now multicoloured feathers, his skin green scales and his feet those of ducks. She smirked and went back to her assignment

"I didn't do anything. I've been here since lunch working on my assignments," she didn't even look up and that was one thing that he knew she would do if she was lying to him. He turned to Lily and she looked up at him, a scowl on her face.

"Blame me for any prank that may or may not have happened and I will kill you, Potter," he believed that she would. He turned away and went up stairs. He needed to figure out how to change his hair back to hair, his skin back to skin and his feet back to feet. He heard the two girls start to laugh and scowled.

* * *

><p>"I hate professor Shear. One month of detention just because I didn't have my defence assignment," Mary groaned as she collapsed on the bench next to Willow and Lily.<p>

"Well, if you hadn't tried to say how unfair a week of detention was and then talked back to the professor at each week added, it wouldn't have been so much," Willow said with a laugh.

"Shut up," Mary said. Willow laughed again and Mary poked her tongue out. Her friends laughed and she eventually joined in.

* * *

><p>"See you in two months," Willow said, hugging her five friends.<p>

"Of course, it's not like we are going to another school or anything," Mary rolled her eyes and Willow laughed.

"Au revior," they all hugged again before going their separate ways to their families. They all waved once more before losing sight of each other.


	6. Chapter 4

Year Three

Willow's POV

I slowly moved through the yoga routine that I had been doing for the past year. I breathed deeply and went into a handstand. I slowly shifted my weight onto my left hand and lowered my left foot to a forty degree angle from my body.

"Willow!" I yelped and fell over as I heard James yell my name. I groaned as I sat up and rubbed at my hip. "Willow! I know you're up there!"

"Give me a minute!" I yelled back and slowly stood up, testing for any injuries. I knew that there would probably be a bruise already forming on my right temple. I noticed that my ankle hurt a little as I limped out onto my balcony. I looked down at him and got a shock as I recognised the person standing next to him.

"Black? What the hell are you doing in my backyard?" I called down.

"Standing. Waiting for you," his cockiness was in rare form and I didn't like it when it was at even a low level.

"Hey, Willow, is that a bruise on your head?" James asked.

"Yeah, thanks a lot for it by the way. What do you want?"

"Dad's taking us to the Quidditch match between Puddlemere and the Bats."

"Really?" of course I was sceptical; this was James and Black that were telling me something.

"Yeah. We're leaving in half an hour, with or without you," I watched them go back over the fence then turned and ran to find my father.

I ran into the living room of the Potters' house and almost ran into Henry. He laughed as I skidded to a halt. I grinned sheepishly at him.

"Hello Willow," he greeted me.

"Hello Uncle Henry. Are you really taking us to see the Bats?"

"Yes, I take it that James has been telling tall tales again?"

"Well he is very good at telling them," he laughed and I grinned at him. James and Sirius ran down the stairs and into the living room. They were both wearing Puddlemere United colours.

"You're going for the Bats?" Sirius asked, looking at the clothes that I was wearing.

"Definitely. I bet they thrash Puddlemere."

"How much?"

"Three knuts."

"You're on," we shook hands and Henry ushered us out of the house, clearly exasperated with us already, and he didn't even have to deal with us on a daily basis for nine to ten months in a year.

Sirius' POV

I climbed over the fence after James into the backyard of his neighbours. I followed him until he stopped within view of a balconied room.

"Willow!" he yelled, I heard a yell from inside and the sound of someone falling. "Willow! I know you're up there!" I was surprised that she was his neighbour, but it did explained how they knew each other so well.

"Give me a minute!" she yelled back and I saw James grin, obviously he knew something that I didn't. She limped out on to the balcony and looked down at us; I noticed that she had a slight bruise forming on her forehead. And I couldn't help but notice that her body was maturing, what with the tight pants and top that she was wearing.

"Black? What the hell are you doing in my backyard?"

"Standing. Waiting for you," I made my reply as cocky as possible. She obviously didn't like that.

"Hey, Willow, is that a bruise on your head?" James asked, took him long enough, and people said that I was the slow one when it came to noticing things.

"Yeah, thanks a lot for it by the way. What do you want?" I guess that was what the falling sound was.

"Dad's taking us to the Quidditch match between Puddlemere and the Bats."

"Really?" she looked sceptical, which, knowing me and James wasn't at all surprising.

"Yeah. We're leaving in half an hour, with or without you," we climbed back over to the Potters' house and went to get ready.

James and I ran down into the living room. Willow was wearing black pants and a black shirt with a scarlet bat on the back and 'Ballycastle Bats' embroidered in red on her breast. It was obvious who she was going for.

"You're going for the Bats?" I asked, she looked at me and the colours that I was wearing.

"Definitely. I bet they thrash Puddlemere."

"How much?" I couldn't resist needling her a bit more.

"Three knuts," it was a good thing that I actually had that much money, plus a little more.

"You're on," we shook hands and Mr Potter ushered us out of the house, clearly exasperated with us already, and he didn't even have to deal with us on a daily basis for most of the year.

"You owe me three Knuts, Black," Willow said while skipping around the living room. They had gotten back from the match an hour ago. Mrs Potter had made them spaghetti bolognaise for their dinner, with chocolate mousse for their dessert. Willow was still ecstatic about the match, the sugar in the mousse probably hadn't helped much.

"Sod off Stark," Sirius growled as he handed over her prize money. She laughed and hugged Mr. and Mrs. Potter. She then kissed both James and Sirius on the cheek. Both boys stared at her as she skipped from the room. By the time she climbed up to her balcony and in to her room she was exhausted. She collapsed into her bed and closed her eyes. About three hours later James gently shook her awake.

"Waz-a-mada?" she slurred, not fully awake. James chuckled.

"Nothing. I just need to let you know that I probably won't be hanging out with you that much these holidays."

"And you couldn't have told me in the morning?"

"Ah, no. Me and Sirius are doing stuff tomorrow, that's why I came to tell you now. We're actually leaving now."

"Oh, see you then," she rolled over so that he would see the disappointment on her face. He gently kissed the top of her head and disappeared into the night.

George Stark went into the family library and saw his daughter sitting at the desk writing, again.

"Are you all packed for tomorrow?"

"Yes papa, I always am. Am I getting a lift from the Potters' this year?"

"No, I'll be calling the Knight Bus for you. I'm sorry that you won't be going with any of your friends."

"That's alright papa, I'm growing up. I have to learn how to do these sorts of things on my own," she smiled up at him warmly, but he thought that it was a little forced. He smiled, kissed her forehead and walked back out of the room. Willow let her smile drop and went back to writing out plans for future pranks. She would be back with her friends the following day and then everything would be alright.

* * *

><p>"I like to start each year with a new way of seeing the future," Professor Trelawney said hoarsely. "The art of Divination is not precise and not everyone possesses the ability to use the inner eye. Today we will be using the art of tarot cards." She gave out instructions and they went and got their deck of cards. Lily, Willow and Mary were sharing a table; Alice, Aisling and Martha were at the table next to theirs. Halfway through the class Will was trying not to fall asleep, Mary was asleep on her shoulder and Lily was trying not to lose her patience with Trelawney, and she failed.<p>

"Well, then. You can take your fucking cards and shove them up that fake arse of yours," Lily stood and walked out of the classroom, much to the shock of everyone in it. Her friends were wide eyed and glad that they were the only ones to hear what she had said to Trelawney. They were still in a state of shock as they joined Lily at the Gryffindor table. Lily successfully ignored their staring. They finished their lunch and left for their next class.

Willow's POV

Care of Magical Creatures... it was like going through the Zoo. There were weird animals I'd never seen before, one which blew fire and I instantly put it on my _'Make extinct'_ list when it flamed up my skirt. Needless to say, Puff the Magic Dragon and me were not on speaking terms. We were to go around and look at the different creatures, get our bearings and observe them and whatever.

"_Crickey_! Look, a wild flobberworm in its natural habitat! I bet I can wrestle it." I said, doing my best Australian accent. Sirius gave me a confused look as James shook his head but both still had amused smiles. Lily cracked a smile before tugging me to the next animal. I skipped along the dirt path behind her, humming to myself.

"You're a strange one..." Remus chuckled.

"Am not."

"You are."

"I'm afraid I have to disagree with that statement."

"You're biased."

"Says you."

"Yes, I did say."

"Said what?"

"What I said."

"What did you say?"

"I said what I said."

"Did you mean what you said?"

"I said what I meant and meant what I said."

"What in Merlin's good name are you two arguing about? You make absolutely no sense." James whined, for someone who has known me most of my life he doesn't really know me at all, but it was rather fun to needle him.

"We make perfect sense." Remus said.

"You just don't understand." I told him.

"Well then I don't understand either, it was bloody confusing." Sirius remarked. I frowned up at him; there was something about Black that always got on my nerves, more so this year than the past two.

"Then perhaps eavesdropping isn't the way to gain knowledge," I suggested.

"I wasn't eavesdropping, you two were right in front of me."

"Please, you specifically aimed your sonar ears in our general direction."

"Lies! I did nothing of the sort, you have no proof."

"Is there proof to be found? Are you admitting the crime?"

"There is no crime to admit to."

"Says the suspect."

"ENOUGH already! You're making my head spin!" James cried, looking between us exasperatedly. I shrugged my shoulders coolly and skipped off to catch up with Lily and Mary. It was so easy to mess with James...

* * *

><p>"Are any of you trying out for Quidditch this year?" Alice asked.<p>

"Yeah," Will answered. "Gryffindor needs two new Beaters and a new Chaser and a new Keeper." She pulled a bowl of macaroni and cheese towards her.

"Is James trying out?"

"I don't know. We haven't talked much since Black came over for the holidays," Willow shrugged and started to eat her mac and cheese.

"We get to go to Hogsmeade this year. Are we going as a 'girls only' group for the first one?" Martha asked the group. The other five nodded. A blob of potato hit Lily's cheek and they all turned to James.

"Will you go out with me Evans?" he called.

"No, Potter," Willow gave her friend a thumbs up and lobbed a bit of mac and cheese at James, it hit his nose and the girls started laughing.

"I'll get you for that Stark," he called.

"Ooo, I'm sooo scared," she pushed her food away from her and stood up. "I'll see you lot in Charms." She walked out of the hall and up to the Charms classroom. James had never called her by her last name before, not even when he was angry at her. That he had used her last name was evidence of how much their brother/sister relationship had deteriorated. And she could only find one factor that had started the change.

"Damn that Black asshole," she hissed and sat in her normal seat.

* * *

><p>It was the first match of the season, Slytherin vs. Gryffindor. Will had gotten the Beater position, James was a Chaser and Black was the other Beater, much to Willow's annoyance. She and Black always bickered while on the field, but they still worked in perfect synchronisation within the game. Off the field they could barely go an hour without having a fight or argument of some sort. The team flew out onto the field as they were called by name.<p>

"CAULDWELL! OZGAR! DARATRAZANOFF! STARK! BLACK! JOHNSON! and POTTER! Are the Gryffindor team this year!" Remus was doing the commentary. The match lasted for six hours. Gryffindor lost their Keeper fairly early and they retaliated by taking out the Slytherins Keeper. Daratrazanoff was knocked out and they knocked off one of the Slytherin Beaters who wasn't paying attention. Willow took a bludger to the knee, but didn't tell anyone as she knew that no one had seen it happen. She knew that her leg would bruise and that she would need to see madam Pompfrey, but that could wait. She couldn't leave Sirius to deal with the two bludgers on his own. Finally, when everyone was starting to wear thin Ozgar caught the snitch and the game was over.


	7. Chapter 5

"Ow," Willow muttered as she limped through the halls to the hospital wing. The team and all its supporters had gone straight to the Gryffindor common room to celebrate. None had noticed that one of their Beaters was limping from a bludger to the knee. She stopped to rest against the wall on the third floor and blinked back tears of pain.

"One more floor, then it will all be good," she whispered to herself. "One more floor."

"Do you need some help Will?" she looked up to see Remus.

"Could you help me to the hospital wing?" he nodded and put one of her arms around his neck, putting his around her waist.

"Why aren't you celebrating with the others?"

"I was, then I noticed that you hadn't come back yet. So I came to find you."

"I'm glad that you did."

"I'm surprised that James didn't notice first."

"We don't talk all that much anymore. He spends most of his time with Black."

"I'm sorry to hear it. From what I could gather, you were the only person who had any sort of control over him."

"yeah, I'm sorry too," they had reached the hospital wing. Remus put her on a bed and got madam Pompfrey.

"Remus, please don't tell anyone? I want to see if they will notice on their own."

"okay. But if they are totally oblivious in the morning and start to ask me if I have seen you I won't lie to them."

"I understand," she waved to him as he walked away. Madam Pompfrey tutted as she waved her wand over Willow's leg.

"you will be here for a few days. If this had been seen to immediately you would be allowed to go after a few minutes. But no, you had to decide to walk all the way here. Drink this," Willow did as she was told and drank the potion. It put her to sleep instantly.

"Have you seen Will?" James looked up as Lily asked Mary the question.

"No, she didn't return to the dorm last night either."

"I think we should go find her," he watched the two girls walk out of the hall and helped himself to some bacon and eggs.

"Lily and Mary just passed me, I heard them talking about Will," James said as Remus and Sirius sat down. "they said that she didn't go to bed last night."

"Of course she didn't. She barely made it to the third floor without help," Remus snapped, not caring that he had told Willow that he wouldn't tell anyone without being asked.

"What are you talking about?"

"She took a hit to the knee during the match. She limped from the pitch to the third floor. I noticed that she wasn't at the party and went looking for her. I had to help her to the hospital wing. I guess madam Pompfrey thought that it was serious enough to keep her overnight."

"Are you joking Remus?" James' voice shook a little, his eyes were wide and he was a bit pale.

"Not at all," James jumped up and ran from the hall, drawing a few stares.

* * *

><p>Willow didn't talk to any of her friends for a week. After that first week she started talking to Alice and Remus. She fought with Black, but that wasn't unusual in the least. She was hurt that none of her friends even noticed her missing from the party. She didn't blame Alice as the Ravenclaw girl hadn't been at the party. Alice and Remus brought her homework and studied with her to keep her from going insane from lack of company. But she still refused to talk to any of the others, it was starting to take its toll on her and the ones that she refused to interact with. Alice understood and she was glad that Willow wasn't forcing her to pick between friends, like some friends had done to her once. James started bugging Remus about Willow and Remus refused to say anything on the matter. He knew that Willow was just hurt and that she would eventually start to talk to her friends again, but he wasn't so sure about James. The relationship that they had come to school with had changed dramatically since the end of their second year. Something had happened over the summer holidays and Remus bet that it had something to do with Sirius spending the holiday at the Potters'.<p>

"Please, Will?" Mary begged.

"We're so sorry," Lily added.

"We just got caught up in the excitement," Martha explained. Aisling nodded. The four girls were getting desperate and they looked at her pleadingly. Willow sighed and relented.

"Okay, okay. I forgive you. And I'm slightly sorry for taking my frustrations about Potter out on you lot," she was enveloped in a multi armed hug. There was a boom in a distant part of the school and Willow's eyes widened.

"Oops, that wasn't meant to go off for another hour," she muttered to herself. Her friends laughed and she grinned at them. They all went down to the great hall for lunch. About twenty minutes later Lucius Malfoy and his posse stormed into the hall and over to the Gryffindor third-year girls.

"I know that this was the work of you Stark," he growled at her. She was hard pressed to keep from laughing, she could hear her friends trying not to laugh as well. Lucius looked like he had been dunked in a bath full of liquid soot, every part of his body and hair was black.

"I don't know what you are talking about Malfoy. I've been in the library since breakfast. You can ask madam Pince, or the numerous Slytherins that have been passing through all morning," she pointed out six that she had had a very long conversation with, if you could call verbally insulting each other a conversation. He scowled at her and the Slytherins walked away.

"What was that about?" Willow turned away from the person who had asked the question, still not ready to talk to them yet.

"We would really like an answer to that question Stark."

"Bite me Black," she snapped.

"Ooh, someone's in a temper."

"Go away, dog boy."

"Why don't you make me?"

"I don't make trash, I bury it," he was silent and she smirked.

"Would you like some ice to go with that burn Black?" Mary asked with a snicker.

"Sod off MacDonald," Sirius went and sat down next to James. The two boys watched the girls as they pulled out a tattered note book and started flipping through it. They stopped on a page and the girls looked at Willow in awe.

"You planned this all on your own and then executed it alone?" Mary and Lily asked together.

"Uh-huh. My timing was a little off as you can guess by the bloody prat confronting us, but other than that it went off perfectly. He shouldn't be able to sleep in his room for a few months at least."

"that's brilliant Will. Remind me to never piss you off to that extent."

"Don't worry. He had this coming from the time that he said that purebloods were above pranks, that was eight years ago."

"Wow, you sure do hold a grudge."

"you don't know the half of it," they all laughed and finished their lunch before going to watch Will at Quidditch practice.

* * *

><p>Willow walked around the corner and crashed into Black. She sighed as she stood up again.<p>

"Why don't you watch where you're going Stark?" he sneered at her. She just gave him a glare and made to move past him.

"What? Got nothing to say? Scared that mommy dearest will send you a howler if you fight?" he knew as soon as the words left his mouth that he had said the wrong thing.

"No, I don't ever have to worry about getting a howler from my mom. She's dead. Happy now?" she turned and walked back the way she had come. Sirius could see the tension in her shoulders and cursed himself. He saw her again later that day and she looked very depressed. James seemed oblivious to this and Remus was also watching her with concern, but he kept glancing at James, as if expecting him to notice. Lily and Mary stormed over to them.

"Which one of you is responsible?" they demanded, looking at Sirius. He looked away, guilty. James looked between them.

"Responsible for what?" the girls stared at him, then pointed at Willow. He looked and his eyes widened. He made to stand but Lily pushed him back down.

"You don't get to be all concerned when didn't even notice that she was upset in the first place. Is it not bad enough that you have ignored her for most of the year? She doesn't need added heartache," Lily turned and walked over to Willow. Mary turned to Sirius.

"We will be have words with you Black, but right now, we are busy fixing whatever damage you caused," she went over to Willow. The three girls went up stairs. Martha came down a moment later and walked out of the common room. She returned half an hour later with chocolate and Alice, Alice was carrying a tray with six hot chocolates on it. They went up the stairs and James just stared. He turned to Sirius.

"What did you say to her?"

"I might have asked her if she was scared of her mother sending her a howler when she didn't snap back at me," James groaned and put his head in his hands.

"It has been exactly a year since she died, how could I have forgotten?"

"You don't exactly talk to Willow anymore," Remus said and James looked up at him.

"Shit, you're right," they watched as Aisling walked into the common room and grabbed the three boxes of tissues that were in the room and went back up the stairs.

"Brilliant, she's crying," James muttered, he went up to the boys' dorm and collapsed on his bed.

* * *

><p>"See you in two months," the six girls said at the same time and laughed. They hugged each other and went to their families.<p>

"Hi papa," Willow said as she walked up next to him.

"Hello Willow. Have you been practicing your swimming?"

"Yes, nearly every day," there was something different about her father, but she couldn't put her finger on it. He was being all formal with her and that confused her, he was never formal with her, even at a formal occasion.

"That is good. This holiday we are going to a beach house that I purchased on the coast of Spain, in the little coastal town of Xivares."

"Really? Cool," they left the platform.


	8. Chapter 6

Year Four

Willow met her friends on platform 9¾. She was tanned and her hair was sun-streaked. The six girls grinned and hugged each other.

"It looks like the beaches of Spain agreed with you," Mary smiled; the others laughed as Will grinned.

"Of course. And the locals weren't that bad either. A few of the guys showed me how to surf."

"Go out with me Evans!" a voice called and all six girls groaned. Lily spun and glared at James Potter.

"Never, Potter!" she yelled back at him and turned her back on him. Willow and Mary laughed. James and Sirius had become the heart-throbs of the school and Sirius knew it all too well. James knew it as well, but he was chasing Lily, so he didn't really notice the girls that had become his fan club.

"Let's get on the train before the fan-girls make it impossible to get on," the six girls did and found a compartment.

* * *

><p>Willow screeched as goo was dropped over her head and down the back of her uniform. She looked up to see James and Sirius staring at her in shock. She didn't bother to tell them that she would get them back, it was written on her face and in her eyes. They boys watched her stomp off in worry and with a slight bit of fear, then ran down to their potions class so that they wouldn't be late, knowing that she would be late. Willow walked in half an hour later.<p>

"Miss Stark, you are late," the Professor said as everyone turned towards her.

"Sorry Professor Slughorn, I ran into a little trouble on the way here," she took her assigned seat, which was between Remus and Sirius, and got out her potions book. Remus looked at her face and then at James and Sirius, he knew immediately that they had been the cause of her delay and sighed. He wondered when his friends and dorm mates would grow up enough to at least stop pranking the girls.

"Well, be that as it may, you will still be serving a detention on Saturday."

"But sir, I have a Quidditch match," she looked at him with wide eyes and she saw from the corner of her eye that James and Sirius were doing the same.

"You should have thought of that earlier," his tone said that there was no point in arguing. Willow glared at James and Sirius and they looked at her apologetically. She didn't look at them from the rest of the lesson. She handed in her potion, packed up her belongings and walked out of the classroom. The rest of the class was surprised. She had arrived later than the rest of them, yet she had managed to finish before them as well, showing that she was actually smarter than she let on to those around her. James and Sirius stared after her and James realised that he had seen this once before when she had been upset about missing out on the chance to see her mother because his mother had told her that she wasn't allowed outside because he had crashed a broom into the living room fire, she had taken the blame for it, and many other things that he had done that caused her to miss out on things that she had been looking forward. But this was only the second time that she had been forced out of something that she truly loved.

"Shit," he muttered to himself. Sirius looked at him and he just shook his head. "later." Sirius nodded and they finished their potion.

Willow sat down by the lake and looked out over the water. She didn't pay any attention to the people walking in and out of the castle and didn't move as someone sat next to her.

"I'm sorry for getting you into trouble."

"It's not your problem now Potter, you don't have to deal with that consequences."

"Oh, but I do. You and Sirius, despite your mutual hate and animosity towards each other, are the best team of Beaters that have been seen in a very long time. And it really is my fault that you got covered in goo. Sirius tends to talk me into things that I know I shouldn't do."

"Yeah, I've noticed that. I have to go finish some homework, see you later Potter," she stood and walked off.

"Willow, what happened? Why have we stopped being siblings?" she turned and saw him standing. She sighed and looked down at her feet.

"I don't know what happened. I know that more times than not you would brush me off to hang with Sirius; that was okay with me. But then you stopped sneaking into my room at night and you stopped coming around. And whenever I went over to your house to hang with you, your parents told me that you and Sirius had gone off somewhere. So I stopped. I know that things might have turned out differently if I had kept on trying, but it was getting too hard. I knew that we wouldn't ever get back to how we were when you called me Stark for the first time ever last year," she sighed at the look on his face, she could see that he understood that there was blame to be placed on him as well and that she wasn't blaming him for everything. She smiled sadly and walked back to the castle; she saw Black from the corner of her eye and knew that he had heard everything.

Lily and Mary found Willow sitting up in the Astronomy tower and they sat on either side of her.

"I told him everything. And Black heard. I know that we can't go back to being family and it hurts to know that," she rested her head on Lily's shoulder and felt tears roll over her cheeks. Her friends just held her and let her cry. An hour later she sat up straight and blew her nose.

"Thanks, I needed that," she said as they all stood up.

"No problem," Lily said with a smile.

"It's our job as your best friends to comfort you when you are down in the dumps," Mary grinned at her and they all laughed. Willow pulled a face as she remembered her detention on Saturday.

"I can't believe that Slughorn is making me do detention when there is a Quidditch match is on."

"He's not," Lily said and Willow stared at her friend.

"What did you do?"

"Told him that I was taking the detention for you as it was totally uncalled for, for him to make you miss a Quidditch match. He took the detention away."

"Thank-you-thank-you-thank-you-thank-you!" Willow crushed her friend in a hug and she laughed. They walked into the Gryffindor common room and sat down at their table to do their homework. They ignored the marauders and the boys frowned, it didn't look like they were planning any pranks but you never knew with them.

* * *

><p>Willow sat down at the Gryffindor table and dropped her head onto the cool wood of the surface. She was in her Quidditch robes and she was beyond tired. Lily and Mary looked at her with worry.<p>

"Are you going to be able to play today?"

"I have to, I don't have any choice. Potter will kill me if I don't play," she lifted her head and looked at Lily. "Please don't let him get you riled up this morning."

"I can't promise anything," Lily stood and went over to Alice. Willow dropped her head again.

"How many times do I have to tell you Potter that I do not want to go out with you?"

"Why? Why me? What did I do to disserve him being at his most annoying today of all days?" Willow asked the table as someone sat next to her. She looked up and saw that it was Black. She groaned and stood up.

"I'll be at the pitch. Potter! Evans! Shut up and grow up for once!" she yelled as she grabbed her broom and stormed out of the silent hall. She walked all the way to the pitch without realising that Black was right behind her.

* * *

><p>It was a week before the Christmas holidays when bad news hit three of the fourth-year Gryffindor girls. Lily's mother had been diagnosed with terminal cancer, and had been given less than a year to live. Mary learnt that her little brother had died in an accident that had also crippled her mother. James, Sirius and Remus walked into the Gryffindor common room to see Alice, Aisling and Martha comforting Lily and Mary, who were both sitting on the couch crying. Willow was standing before the fire, staring into it with blank eyes. Martha stood and walked over to her, but she just shrugged off the comforting hand that Martha placed on her shoulder. Martha went back to her seat. James went over to Willow.<p>

"Will? Are you okay?" he put a hand on her shoulder and she looked up at him. He could see the haunted look in her eyes. "Will?" she shook her head and ran from the room. He saw a piece of paper fall to the ground as she dropped it and picked it up.

_Dear Willow,_

_I know that this will come to you as a bit of a shock, but your father has passed away. He was murdered by the same people who killed your mother when you were younger. I am deeply sorry for this. His funeral is in four days and I expect to see you there. We have much to discuss._

_Yours truly,_

_Beatrice O'Hare._

"Merlin, that is the most uncaring letter that I have ever read," Sirius had read over James' shoulder. James shoved the letter into Sirius' hands.

"Don't let anyone read this. I mean it Sirius."

"Pranksters honour," James nodded and ran from the room.

Willow was at the edge of the lake. She was picking up stones and throwing them as hard as possible into the lake.

"Give him back!" she screamed, tears running down her cheeks. James came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. All her strength flowed out of her and her knees buckled. He gently sank into a sitting position, Willow in his lap.

"He's mine, he can't leave. He's mine," she hid her face against his shoulder and put her arms around his neck as she cried. He gently rocked her until her tears ceased to fall.

"Will you come with me? I don't want to face Aunt Betty alone. She's scary."

"Of course I will go. I'm sorry that he was taken from you as well as your mother."

"I'm sorry too. No one will ever call me Willowtree again," she started to cry again, but not as hard as the first time. They eventually walked back up to the common room. Will kissed James on the cheek and went up to the girls' dorm. She saw that Lily, Mary, Martha, Aisling and Alice had placed the five mattresses on the floor to make one big bed for them all. She changed into her pyjamas and climbed in beside Lily. The six girls fell asleep with surprising ease considering all that had happened.

* * *

><p>Willow stood with James and Sirius as they waited for the ceremony to begin. Will had been surprised when Sirius had asked to come, even more so when he actually showed that he was sorry that she had lost her father. The three teens were all dressed in black clothing and Willow felt like a poser. Her father hadn't believed in wearing black at a funeral, he had said that it was too dull and boring.<p>

"Ah, Willow," a woman with greying hair came up to the girl and hugged her. "We'll be starting in a moment. You should go take a seat."

"Yes Aunt Beatrice," the trio went inside and Willow saw the coffin, her heart constricted and the boys took one of her hands each. She took a shaky breath and they sat down.

"Dearly beloved we are gathered here today to say farewell to George Stark. He was a loving husband and a devoted father. He was taken from us before his time and we shall all feel the loss of his presence. I would like to call upon those who knew George to talk about him," the priest called person upon person and the more Willow heard, the more she wanted to run away and find a nice corner to cry in. It was eventually her turn to go up and give her speech.

"I've never done this before. My dad meant the world to me. We were all we had left. I'll miss him so much. He would always call me by these funny little names that only made me laugh when he said them. He understood me where my mother didn't. He wasn't just my father, he was my friend and nothing will ever fill in the hole that was – is – his place in my heart. I love him and I'll miss him," she went and sat back down. Sirius and James took her hands again and she rested her head on James' shoulder. They watched as the coffin was carried out of the church and put into the back of a Hurst. James pulled Willow into a hug as her tears started to fall over her cheeks. Her sobs were stifled against his shoulder and he looked at Sirius. The teen was looking at the back of Willow's head in worry. He met James' eye and they knew that they were thinking the same thing; 'will she be alright?'.


	9. Chapter 7

James and Sirius waited with Mr. and Mrs. Potter as Willow and her Aunt talked with the family lawyer. James had a feeling that things were going to become problematic very quickly, and he had a feeling that it would have nothing to do with Willow directly, but from her aunt.

"He has left everything to his daughter Willow Anne Stark. There are no other family members listed as beneficiaries. Mr. and Mrs. Potter are to watch over her until she is of legal age. Nothing can be sold until that time either. Ms. Stark may move house once in the next three years if she wishes. Money will be moved into her account in small amounts each week until it has all been moved. Family heirlooms may never be sold under any circumstances. And Ms. Stark is to never be put into the care of Mrs. Beatrice O'Hare," the lawyer read out the will and Willow stared at him in surprise and shock.

"This is outrageous. My brother would never leave everything in the hands of a child. I was with him when he wrote his will, and that most certainly is not it."

"He changed it the day before his unfortunate death. I am sorry for your loss," he said the last to both women, but it was really directed at Willow. She shook his hand as they stood up.

"Will you be watching over all the documents and overseeing what has to be done?"

"Yes. Your mother's family want you to be well looked after. Your mother was a brilliant woman and it was my privilege to work with her. You are the spitting image of her. Good day to you Mrs. O'Hare. I'll be keeping in contact with you Ms. Stark," he left the room and Willow followed, not wanting to be left alone in the same room as her aunt. Mr and Mrs. Potter had to force Beatrice out of their house. Willow slept between James and Sirius that night, as the boys normally shared the bed when they were at the house, and she couldn't sleep in her own house.

"Jamie?"

"Yes Willowbee?"

"Promise me that you won't ever be mean to me? I like that I can talk to you, and I miss it."

"Oh, I'm sorry Willow; I'll put more of an effort into it from now on. I promise to never intentionally hurt you."

"Thank you, I wish that we could go back to how we were before we started at school."

"So do I. Remember the night that we met?"

"How could I forget? We threw that balloon filed with your father's best wine at Malfoy."

"We ruined his nice white shirt."

"He disserved it. Saying that pure-bloods were better than muggleborns. I finally got him back at school."

"You always did hold a good grudge."

"Hmm. I'm so tired, but I don't want to go to sleep."

"Why not?"

"I'm scared that if I do someone else I love will disappear on me. I don't think I could live with anyone else dying."

"No one else is going to die."

"How do you know?"

"I don't, but I have to have faith. You ready to go to sleep?"

"Yes, thank you Jamie."

"Goodnight my Willowbee."

"'Night," he pulled her against him and they fell asleep, unaware that Sirius had heard the whole conversation, he was finally starting to understand that Willow was the tough-girl that she showed to the world, but inside there was a small, fragile, vulnerable part of her that was rarely let out. He closed his eyes and fell asleep. The three woke up in a huddle, Willow squished between the two boys. She poked each of them in the ribs and they rolled away with identical cries of surprise. They glared at her and she just hopped off the bed and walked out of the room.

Willow was walking through her home, looking at everything that was going to be a constant reminder of the parents she no longer had. She picked up a photo of the three of them, she was barely four. Her father was holding her as her mother laughed. They were outside as the snow fell. Will felt tears come to her eyes and put the photo down. She walked up the stairs and stopped before her parents' room; she opened the door slowly and looked into the room. Her heart felt heavy as she looked at the perfume bottles that had a layer of dust on them, having not been cleaned since her mother's death. Willow slowly backed out of the room and closed the door again. She had sent the house elves to work at Hogwarts; she didn't want anyone in the house. She went to her room and sat on her bed; she felt her eyes burn and covered her face with her hands. Her tears fell and she let out a cry of pain. She didn't see the person who climbed up onto her balcony and then into her room. She barely felt the arms that wrapped around her. She put her arms around the person's neck and cried into their shoulder, they rubbed her back and held her close. Her tears eventually slowed to a halt and she sat back and looked at the person she had been comforted by.

"Siri- Sirius?"

"Are you surprised?"

"Just a little. Why are you here?"

"I saw you walk over here, I know that you thought no one saw you, but I did. I knew that you would need someone's shoulder to cry on, so I climbed into your back yard and up the side of the house to your balcony. I was almost to the top when I heard your cry. I really am sorry that you lost your parents and I'm sorry that I pulled James away from you so much."

"You're not to blame. If James had wanted to stay friends he would have made more of an effort to continue talking to me."

"I guess, I'm still sorry. Do you want me to walk you back to the Potters'?"

"If you don't mind," she looked at her hands. He took one and pulled her to her feet. They walked out of her room and down the hall. Sirius stopped as he saw the picture that she had picked up earlier.

"Is that your mother?"

"Yes," her voice was a whisper and he pulled her to his side, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and holding her close. He was holding her like something precious and she liked the feeling, and that scared her.

"You look just like her, except you have your father's eyes."

"You and mom would have gotten along like two peas in a pod. She always said that dad was the joker, but both James and I get our love of pranks from our mothers. You came to the Potters' six months after her death."

"Ah, I guess you had been spending a lot of time with James?"

"He was my rock at the time. Papa was too grief-stricken to realise that I was in no better shape, and that being twelve meant that I didn't really understand what had happened," she looked up at Sirius and he looked down at her. "I never realised, but you do have a kind, serious side to you. I've never seen it before. Why do you hide it?"

"I'm a Black, I'm not allowed to show any form of weakness."

"Being kind isn't a weakness," she reached past him and picked up the picture. She pulled the photo out of the frame and put it in the back pocket of her jeans. They walked out of the house and she locked it behind her. Over the holidays she and Sirius came to a silent truce, they wouldn't fight as much at school, and they wouldn't fight at all while on holidays. James was befuddled when she and Sirius were beyond civil to each other on Christmas Day, causing Willow to laugh for the first time in a long while.

Willow smiled slightly at Lily and Mary, they gave her identical smiles. Their smiles were small and sad. They got onto the train, ready to go back to school. James, Sirius, Remus and Peter walked past. James looked like he was going to ask Lily out, but caught Willow's eye, she shook her head slightly, almost imperceptible. He nodded and the marauders continued past. The girls stared after them in surprise.

"What did you say to him Will?"

"Nothing, he probably realises that Lily isn't up to shooting him down," she didn't tell them that over the Christmas holiday she and James had started to talk again. The girls took her explanation and started to talk about other things. They were half way to the school when screams echoed down the length of the train, along with the laughter of the four Marauders. Willow dropped her head onto Mary's shoulder.

"I'm never going to survive," she mumbled, getting a laugh out of both her grief-stricken friends.

The school was shocked when they saw that Willow and Sirius were actually being civil to each other and they wondered what exactly had happened over the holidays. The friends of the two knew that it wouldn't last that much longer, and they were right. A month before school ended they had a fight. Slughorn had put his students into groups of three; Willow was with James and Sirius. Sirius was poking her in the ribs, seeing if the bruise that she had gotten from training was hurting her.

"Poke me one more time Black and I will break that finger," she said as she glared at him. He just grinned and poked her again. Lily and Mary could see her anger reach breaking point. Willow grabbed Sirius' finger and twisted, there was an audible crack and everyone turned to stare. Sirius was staring at his finger, surprised that it was bent the wrong way; the pain didn't seem to have set in yet.

"Mr Potter, please take Mr Black to the hospital wing. Miss Stark, please go see your Head of House," the three teens walked out of the room and up to the entrance hall.

"Why did you do this Willow?" James asked.

"I told him that I would if he continued to poke me. It's his own fault for not believing me."

"How could you be so irresponsible?"

"James, he'll live," she turned and walked away from the two boys, obviously not going to see McGonagall.

"James, she's right. I did continue to poke her, and I know that she means it when she says that she will do something, she gets this look in her eyes. I just have to push her. And I don't think that she is dealing with her father's death very well."

"It still doesn't give her the right to break your finger," James growled as they walked into the hospital wing.


	10. Chapter 8

Year Seven

Willow opened the door to the beach house in Xivares that had been left to her and let Lily and Aisling in. Martha, Mary and Alice were already there.

"Now, this holiday would be perfect if we hadn't noticed a certain group of boys who were staying in a house up the street," Alice said as she sat down at the breakfast bar.

"Let me guess, the marauders?"

"Only the two most arrogant of them. There's also McDougall, Daratrazanoff, Longbottom and Sonsday. Should be an interesting month," Martha said. They all laughed and went to change into their swimmers. They walked out of the house, Willow grabbing something that was encased in a large bag. They walked down to the beach and she pulled her surfboard from the bag. She showed her friends where they could swim in salt water but not worry about any waves, then ran into the surf with her board. The girls swam in the beachside pool and noticed a group of boys walking down the road to the beach. Willow didn't notice them as she talked with a local out behind the break.

The six boys paused on the beach and noticed the girls in the pool, but they frowned when they realised that it was only five of the six they had watched walked to the beach.

"Is that… is that Stark out on the surfboard?" the boys turned to look at what Frank was staring at. They saw a girl with sun-streaked, wet hair looking behind her at the swell. She suddenly leaned forward and started paddling. She stood up on the board and rode the wave. She fell off as it broke and came up with a laugh. She high-fived a local and he grinned at her. James gave the local a once over and decided that he didn't like the guy.

"Usted está consiguiendo mejor cada vez que usted venga aquí," (You are getting better every time you come here) whatever the guy said it made Willow grin and laugh. She looked around and saw the boys.

"Tengo que ir, mi primo le está dando una mirada que dice que quiere alejarse de usted a toda costa. No conservar el surf todos para ti, seré de nuevo," (I have to go, my cousin is giving you a look that says that he wants me away from you at all costs. Don't keep the surf all to yourself though, I will be out again) Willow smiled again and went over to the boys; the girls had gotten out of the pool and had walked over as well.

"Why were you glaring at my neighbour?" she asked sweetly, but the look in her eyes was anything but sweet. James looked down at her.

"You are my cousin, and he is a guy who looks to be a bit older than us."

"Yes, he also happens to be married and have four kids," Willow added. She turned and looked at the other boys, they were all staring at the girls. "Do you lot see something that you like?" they quickly looked away and Willow laughed evilly. Lily shook her head.

"Are you going back out?"

"Hell, yeah, try not to kill him Lils," Willow kissed James' cheek as Lily walked back to the pool. She laughed and went back into the surf. She knew that the boys were all watching her, but didn't care. The girls' consented to sitting at a table for lunch with the boys.

"What do you all want? I'll have to order for you."

"Why would you have to order for us?"

"Do any of you speak Spanish?"

"Ah… no?"

"Then there is your answer Black," Willow took their orders and got James to help her carry it back.

"Do any of you girls want to have a go?" Willow asked when everyone was finished eating.

"Hell no. We have all seen that cut on your leg," Martha said and the others nodded, Willow laughed. The boys stared at her and she shrugged.

"What? When one starts surfing one is bound to fall off, I just happened to fall off over a bit of reef. It hurt too," she pulled a face.

"Hey, cariño, vas a volver a montar las olas?" (Hey, honey, are you coming back out to ride the waves?) Willow looked up at the question and grinned.

"Estaré allí en un momento," (I'll be there in a moment) she replied in the same language she turned back to her friends and they looked at her with strange looks. "what now?" none replied and she stood up.

"I'm going back for a surf. Alice the house key is in my bag if you lot decide to go back to the house, I'll probably be out here for quite a bit longer." She walked away and went back into the surf.

The holiday ended too soon for Willow's liking, she didn't want to go back to the school and prepare for NEWTs. But she knew that she had no choice. Her friends helped her clean up the house and she smiled at them all. They all got a taxi to the airport and got onto the plan that would take them to London. They were staying at the Leaky Cauldron until the start of school.

"Bloody hell Black! Watch where you're going!" Lily and Mary helped Willow to her feet, fighting to hide their amusement. James and Remus did the same for Sirius.

"Good morning ladies," James smiled at them and walked away without another comment, Black and Remus followed. The girls were shocked.

"Did… did James just walk off without asking you out Lily?"

"I… I think he did," she looked just as shocked as her friends.

"And was that the Head-Boy badge on his chest?" Mary asked.

"God, I hope not," Lily shuddered. She had gotten Head-Girl, and having to share a common room and dormitory with James seemed like the end of the world to her. They got on the train and Lily went off to the Heads compartment and the other girls went and found their own compartment. Lily came back an hour later.

"I have to share a common room and dormitory with Potter," she moaned and her friends just laughed. "Someone save me." Willow put her arm around Lily's shoulder and held her close.

"Sorry, but we can't help you," she said, causing the others to laugh. Lily joined in.

"This is going to be a very interesting year for us," Martha said with a slight sigh.

Willow sat down at Gryffindor table for the first day of classes. She pushed her plate away, folded her arms upon the table and dropped her head onto them. She only sat up again when two people sat next to her.

"I wanna go back to bed, Lils."

"Too bad, so sad," Lily replied as Professor McGonagall came over to them.

"Your schedules, ladies. Miss Evans, you can take any class at NEWT level. What would you like?"

"Transfiguration, Arithmancy, Potions, Charms, Herbology and Defence Against the Dark Arts please," McGonagall touched her wand to a blank schedule and handed it to Lily.

"Miss MacDonald, you can do any NEWT level class apart from Potions and Herbology"

"Can I please have the same as Lily, with Ancient Runes and Astronomy instead of Potions and Herbology." She was handed her schedule.

"Miss Stark, you can take any course at NEWT level."

"Hm… History of Magic, Charms… Defence Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration… Arithmancy, Potions and Muggle Studies," she was handed her schedule. "Brilliant, I have the first line off." She smiled and Mary groaned.

"Let me see that," she grabbed Willow's schedule and read it over.

_Name: W. Stark House: Gryffindor_

_Mon: Free / Arithmancy / Charms / lunch / Transfiguration / Free / Free_

_Tues: Double DADA / free / lunch / Potions / Arithmancy / free_

_Wed: Charms / Free / Arithmancy / lunch / Muggle Studies / double History of Magic_

_Thurs: Double Transfiguration / Free / lunch / History of Magic / free / Muggle Studies_

_Fri: Double Potions / free / lunch / DADA / Charms / Muggle Studies_

"Man, I shouldn't have asked for history, I could have had heaps of free time," Willow said as she took her timetable back. Lily and Mary laughed at her complaint.

"Willow! I need your timetable!" James yelled as he came into the hall. She stared at him and he snatched her schedule out of her hand. He frowned at it and made a copy of it before giving it back.

"Padfoot! Daratrazanoff!" he went over to the two guys.

"I think that he's already turning into the Quidditch Nazi from last season," Will stared at her Quidditch captain in terror. "Save me." Lily and Mary only laughed at her. She poked her tongue out at them.

"Go to class," she grumbled and they left her alone. Willow noticed that she and Black were the only Gryffindors left at the table. He moved down so that they were sitting opposite each other.

"What do you think about James becoming head boy?" he asked.

"I think Lily will try to kill him by the end of the year," she replied, he smirked at her and she rolled her eyes. "see you later." She stood and walked out of the hall.

"I hate all bloody boys!" Lily came into the seventh year girls' dorm; the five girls looked up at her and knew that she was beyond angry.

"What's he done this time?" Mary asked, only James could make her this angry.

"Nothing!" everyone was silent as Lily sat down on Will's bed.

"Aww," Will put her arms around Lily in a hug. "I think you miss him pestering you." The other four girls came over.

"I do not. I miss him actually talking to me, actually acknowledging that I exist," Lily looked down at her hands, biting her lip.

"Lily, have you fallen for him?" Willow asked gently, the redhead nodded slightly.

"Okay, this calls for an emergency girls' night in," Martha stood up. "Alice, take Aisling with you to Ravenclaw and get something to sleep in and your pillow. Willow, you go down to the kitchens and get some snacks organised. Mary, you, me and Lils are going to find sexy pyjamas for the six of us. If we do this now we won't have to do it later." Alice, Aisling and Willow left the room, Will mock saluting Martha. Will sent the jelly-legs jinx at James and Sirius as she ran past them with a laugh. She went into the dungeons and to the painting of fruits in a bowl. She tickled the pear, it giggled and the painting swung open to reveal the kitchens.

"Mistress Stark," an elf came forward with a huge grin on her face, Willow smiled back.

"Hello Greta, can you send some snacks up to the Gryffindor seventh year girls' dorm at eight-thirty please? And a case of butterbeer?"

"Yes mistress, what are you wanting?"

"pasties, chocolate, cheese and biscuits, and a fruit plater. Not too much of anything though, there are only six of us eating it."

"Very good mistress. Greta will bring it up at eight-thirty."

"thank you Greta," Will left and went back to Gryffindor tower.

"All sorted?" Martha asked.

"All sorted, it'll be here at eight-thirty," she looked at the pyjamas that had been picked out for her and smiled. It was a pair of black pants that had an elastic waistband and fell in loose fabric to her ankles. The shirt was a blood-red, form-fitting, low-cut tank top, also showing a bit of her stomach and lower back, which meant that her blue wren tattoo on her lower back was going to be showing when she wore it. The other five ensembles were similar, the colours were different and the styles of the clothes varied.

"we picked according to each individuals skin, hair, eyes and body type," Martha said. "Let's go to dinner." The six of them left and went down to the great hall.

Mary came back into the girls' dorm after a trip to the kitchens to get another bottle of butterbeer.

"hey, the guys are down in the common room. They're playing a game of 'I've never'. Do we wanna go play?" the girls all looked down at their pyjamas and smiled.

"Definitely," Martha, Aisling and Alice linked arms. Mary and willow pulled a bottle of firewhiskey each from their trunks, then linked arms with Lily. The six left and went down the stairs.

"Oh boys, we want to play as well," Martha and Aisling called in a sing-song voice. Seven boys looked up at the six girls in shock and confusion. They saw the bottles that Willow and Mary were carrying.

"How did you get those into the castle?" James and Sirius demanded. Willow held a finger to her lips.

"Shh, it's a secret," she said.

"Girl power!" the other five girls said at the same time, they laughed.

"Have you already had some? You lot never break the rules." Dimitri was answered by the three marauders.

"Yes they do!"

"They just don't get caught!"

"or they blame us!"

"True," Willow grinned evilly at Sirius.

"And between the six of us, we could probably beat the record that you marauders hold," Mary added with her own grin.

"And we still wouldn't get any blame," Lily gave James her most evil grin. "Are you going to let us play or not?" the boys brought over more cushions and one went up the stairs to the boys' dorm. He came back with six more shot glasses. Each of the thirteen glasses was filled with firewhiskey and handed out to the teens.

"So, what are the guidelines for this game?" Alice asked, knowing that the rules for 'I've never' varied.

"Well, you pour a shot each, which is already done," Ian started.

"Then one person starts with I've never, saying something that they have never done," Erick continued.

"If you have done it, you down your shot and refill your glass," Dimitri finished.

"I'll go first, you ladies join in whenever you are ready," Frank said, giving Alice a grin. "I've never gone skinny-dipping." James, Sirius, Remus, Willow and Mary took their shots. The two girls smirked at the boys.

"I've never hit a woman," Ian said. Willow and Alice took a shot each. James stared at Willow in bewilderment.

"What?" she asked innocently.

"Nothing, I've never kissed someone of the same sex," James saw Sirius smirk. The girls looked at each other and downed their shots. All the boys stared at them this time and they laughed.

"We might tell you if you behave," Willow grinned.

"I've never pranked the headmaster," Sirius said. Willow, Lily and Mary downed their shots and the marauders stared at them.

"You pranked Dumbledore?" Sirius asked in awed disbelief.

"Yeah, we were in our... second year?" Mary turned to Lily and Will.

"Yeah, we turned his robes splotchy rainbow," Lily chuckled.

"Right, that was Halloween, the whole school was shocked, the looks on their faces were priceless," the trio of girls grinned at each other.

"Aye, t'was. I've never had sex," Mary said with a grin. Lily, Alice and Willow were the only ones who didn't take their shots.

"I've never given attitude to a teacher or prefect," Erick said in a quiet voice. Lily, Mary, Willow, James, Sirius, Remus, Frank and Dimitri took their shots. Lily giggled and the girls knew that she was about three shots away from her limit.

"Who?" James was staring at Lily like she had grown another head; he couldn't believe that Lily the class suck-up had given a teacher a piece of her mind.

"Trelawney," Lily grinned.

"I remember that. It was the very first class of the year," Martha was swaying a little in her seat.

"Yeah, Aisling is the only one of us who likes Divination," Alice was starting to grin, remembering what had gone down in the class.

"What were we doing Ash?" Martha asked.

"Tarot cards. Lily just... well she told the Professor where she could shove the cards," Lily laughed with the rest of the girls. "I've never seen what pulls the school carriages." Willow was the only one to take a shot.

"I've never gone without underpants at school for a whole day," she said to quickly divert the attention away from her. Lily, Mary, Martha, Aisling and Alice took their shots.

"I'm so glad that my first name doesn't have an A in it," she added as her friends went bright red under the stares that the guys were giving them.

"I've never been kissed by the opposite sex," Lily said with a hiccup. Willow, Alice and Mary were the only ones not to take their shots. Lily stood up a little shakily.

"I'm going to bed now," she took two steps and stumbled. Willow and Mary casually stood and went to their friend's side. Alice and Aisling did the same for Martha.

"Night boys," Martha, Lily, Alice and Aisling called back.

"Night girls,"' the boys replied and watched them go up the stairs.

"I've never thought about kissing one of them," Remus murmured. The other six boys took their shots.

"Well, we all know that James wants Lily and that I want Alice, what about the rest of you?" Frank asked.

"Martha," Ian said.

"Mary," Dimitri grinned.

"Aisling," Erick murmured.

"Willow," Sirius went slightly pink as his dorm mates looked at him. "what? She's smart and pretty and funny and-"

"Is always yelling at you," Dimitri pointed out.

"And she tries to knock your head off at Quidditch practice," Ian added.

"yeah, okay. But I'm serious-"

"of course you're Sirius, none of us are," James mocked with a smirk. Sirius glared at him and threw a pillow at him. They were interrupted by the return of Willow and Mary.

"you still playing?" Will asked.

"Only if you tell us about no knickers day," Ian said, the two girls sat. They looked at each other and shrugged.

"okay, we have the permission of the others to reveal a few things," Mary said.

"it was last year at Halloween," Willow started the story. "We had gotten a bottle of firewhiskey and were playing a game of Truth or Dare. Lily had gotten some Veritaserum. Anyway, we gave up on the game after we ran out of firewhiskey."

"Alice got an idea. She wrote down the letters in each of our full first names, like W-I-L-L-O-W-M-A-R-Y-L-I-L-I-A-N, you get the picture. She put all of the letters in a hat and had Martha pick out a letter, it was the letter 'A'," Mary was grinning widely now.

"so the next day those who had the letter 'A' in their first name weren't allowed to wear any underwear. I was lucky, I don't have any 'A's in my first name. it is really ironic that today is also Halloween. It has been exactly a year since the last game."

"What if we make it a tradition and do it every year?" everyone turned to see that the other four girls had returned, Martha was holding a black top-hat.

"Except we use last names," Lily said, her words slightly slurred.

"You're on," James and Sirius said immediately. The other boys nodded.

"Okay, Lils, you write while I spell out all our last names," Lily got a quill, ink and a piece of spare parchment.

"E-V-A-N-S M-A-C-D-O-N-A-L-D H-O-R-N-B-Y P-R-E-W-E-T-T

V-E-C-T-O-R S-T-A-R-K P-O-T-T-E-R B-L-A-C-K

D-A-R-A-T-R-A-Z-A-N-O-F-F L-O-N-G-B-O-T-T-O-M

S-O-N-S-D-A-Y M-A-C-D-O-U-G-A-L L-U-P-I-N got them all?"

"Yes Martha," the letters were separated and put into the hat. Remus was asked to pull out a letter and he did. He grinned as he looked at the letter that he had pulled. He looked up at Willow, then at Sirius, his grin widening. She knew that the letter was in both her name and Black's, which only gave two possibilities. Martha snatched the letter away from Remus and showed it to everyone else. It was the letter 'K', and only she and Black had that letter. Will stared at it then shrugged. She and the girls said goodnight and went up to bed, the boys did the same.

"You like Sirius, don't you Will?" Lily whispered as they settled into the mattresses that they had put on the floor.

"Yeah, I do. I fell for him and I don't know how or why. I used to hate him for taking James away. James is like my brother, I really, really hated Sirius at that time. I had no one to talk to in the holidays, it got worse after papa died," Lily put her arms around Willow, Mary joined them.

"We'll help you catch him," Mary whispered.

"Thanks. We shouldn't have done this tonight," Willow sighed.

"Why?" Lily asked, clearly puzzled.

"We have classes tomorrow," the three groaned quietly. They knew that they would all have hangovers in the morning and they weren't looking forward to them.

"Bloody boys!" Willow hissed, saying the words that had started off this night. Lily and Mary snorted, and they eventually fell asleep.


	11. Chapter 9

Willow was the first of the girls to wake up. She groaned slightly at the pounding in her head and got dressed; she pulled on a long skirt and left her underwear in her trunk. She walked out of the common room and down to the great hall. She sat at the table and pushed her plate away before dropping her head onto the cool wood. Lily walked in and saw her friend. She grinned and walked over to her. She dropped the large book the she was holding onto the table and Willow's head came up as she gave a pained cry. Lily just grinned at her and sat down. Mary, Martha, Aisling and Alice walked in and sat with them. It was obvious that Martha and Mary were also suffering from hangovers.

"Can I go back to bed Lily?" Willow moaned.

"No," Lily said then a grin crack her lips as she looked towards the door, Willow looked and saw the marauders walking down the aisle. Sirius had a sour face. He sat near her and gave her a glare. She grinned at him.

"Uncomfortable Black?"

"Yes!" he grinned when she flinched at his yell. "But at least I don't have a hangover."

"Sod off," she stood and walked off. He noticed her skirt and sighed.

"I should have made a condition about the skirt length," he muttered, Lily heard.

"It wouldn't have done any good. Will doesn't own any skirt that falls sorter that her knees. When we had to go commando we all borrowed her skirts, she was left wearing a pair of pants for the day."

"I remember that, she got a detention from nearly every teacher," James frowned. They all stood up and went to Double Transfiguration. Willow grabbed Lily outside the classroom and held out her hand, the others stopped and watched.

"Hand it over," Willow said and Lily grinned.

"Hand what over Will?"

"That bloody hangover potions that I know you gave the others and had yourself."

"Sorry, Will, there's none left," Willow groaned and walked off before her friends could say anything.

"That was mean, Lils, you know that she suffers worse than the rest of us do," Martha was frowning at Lily, and Lily looked slightly guilty.

"But it's true. We used the last of it before we got to the hall," she looked down the empty corridor and almost laughed as she saw that McGonagall was bringing Willow back down to the classroom. Will just walked in past her friends and sat in her normal seat. The marauders sat before the girls. Willow was not a happy person for most of the day, and she wasn't looking forward to Muggle Studies at the end of the day, she was all alone in that class with Black. Halfway through the lesson Willow became extremely bored. She looked at the piece of paper that she had been doodling on and got an idea. She charmed the page that she was using and charmed the one that Sirius was using. He had been getting more and more uncomfortable as the day went by. She felt like being annoying, she wrote on her parchment and it showed up on his, he glanced at her and she knew that he would reply.

*airing out the family jewels?*

-What do you think?-

His writing was neat and she knew that if writing had attitude, his would be annoyed.

*you look uncomfortable, it's not that bad*

-really? Try being a guy before you say that-

*aww… is Snuffles all in a knot? Wearing a kilt might help.*

-shut up! Why are you annoying me? Do your work!-

*But I'm finished*

-Just leave me alone then-

*fine… sigh*

She stopped writing for a moment and stared at the notes that McGonagall wanted them to copy down. She had waited twenty minutes before a plan started to form. She had a quick conference with Lily and Mary. They told her to be careful but go ahead with it.

*hey Black?*

-what?-

*can I just write random things? You don't have to reply to any of them*

-Fine-

*thank you… … … you know, skirts were designed to be pushed up. It gives a man easy access to certain goods… … … I was running through the halls earlier and the breeze that was going up felt… nice…*

Lily and Mary were trying to hold in their laughter as they read what Willow was writing, she gave them each a grin.

_*it was kind of chilly though… I don't suppose you know where to find __hot__ air?... no, didn't think so…_

James was suddenly choking on his own breath.

"Mr. Potter, are you alright?" McGonagall asked as she looked at James sharply.

"Yes Professor, I just swallowed a fly," he said. McGonagall nodded and went back to explaining what was needed to become an animagus.

~what the hell do you think you are doing?~

*none of your damned business Potter! Black said that I could write whatever I want. Get your nose out of my business.*

James turned to look at her and she gave him a look that told him not to interfere.

~fine, but be careful and I hope you know what you are doing~

*bye Jamesie-poo…*

~stop calling me that!~

*never… … … now, where was I?... oh yeah, hot and cold… do you know where there is hot air? 'Cause, like I said, I don't like the chilly draught I get up my skirt… … … air drying is usually better than this. Especially when it's hot and I'm wet…*

'Well, if that doesn't work, nothing will,' she thought to herself.

-Merlin, woman, are you on crack or something? Why the hell are you writing these things?-

Willow asked her friends on the best course of action. Class was almost over. She put her stuff away without McGonagall noticing, she wanted a quick get away when she wrote her reply.

*because I am horny*

The bell rang and she high-tailed it out of the classroom. Sirius read the reply and turned to see that Willow had already disappeared out the door. He wiped the parchment of their conversation and walked out of the classroom. He would catch her in Muggle Studies, the only class they didn't have with any of their friends.

She stared at the door into the Muggle Studies class. She knew that he would be in there and that he wouldn't let her escape like she did in Transfiguration.

"Time to face the music," she murmured before walking in and sitting down next to him, like she did every time they had this lesson.

"We will talk at the end of this class," he shifted on his seat. "How can you not be uncomfortable?"

"Easy, all of my skirts have silk slips under them to prevent me from getting rashes. It does feel a little strange without my knickers, but I don't have anything that dangles like you do," he groaned and put his head on the table, she grinned. The professor walked in at that moment and they fell silent.

At the end of the class he grabbed her arm and pulled her down the hall to a broom cupboard. He closed the door, locked it and put a silencing spell on it. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Why?" he asked, and she knew exactly what he was asking about.

"At first it was an idea born purely from boredom. Then it became fun when James choked."

"That's why he was coughing?"

"Yeah."

"You wouldn't do that just for fun," she didn't look at him. "What else is there?"

"A lot of… a lot of mixed up feelings."

"And?" he pushed.

"This," she suddenly grabbed his tie and pulled him down so that she could push her lips against his. He pulled away in shock, then pulled her in for another kiss. He lifted her and put her on a shelf so that they were at eye level. His hands rested on her hips as he continued to kiss her. Her arms went around his neck. She pulled back a little and looked at him.

"Do you remember the game last night?"

"Yeah."

"Do you remember what Mary and Lily said they had never done?"

"Slightly, one was no sex, the other no kiss from the other sex."

"I didn't take a shot at either of them," she whispered and turned her head to the side.

"I know, I was surprised though. How could you not have been kissed by a boy?"

"None ever asked me out," he gripped her chin and turned her to face him. He was grinning and she frowned at him.

"What?"

"I'm your first kiss," she started to smile.

"Actually, Lily was my first kiss."

"What?" she giggled at his yell.

"We were in year three and playing truth or dare. We all like to pick dare because we already know the truths about each other. But Lily was my first and only kiss."

"I missed that?" Sirius asked with a whine. Willow giggled again and lightly hit him over the back of the head.

"You're so silly sometimes," she whispered and he kissed her again. He stepped closer to her, just as the door to the cupboard was opened. They turned to see Lily and James standing in the doorway. The map was in James' hand and Lily looked furious.

"Sorry, Pads, but Lils is scary when she's worried about a friend."

"That's okay Prongs. I was just about to escort Miss Stark down to the great hall for dinner," he lifted Willow off the shelf and put her on her feet. Lily grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the room. She waved to the two boys, not bothering to argue with Lily.

"What were you thinking?" Lily yelled once again, they had come to the seventh-year girls' dorms an hour ago and Lily had been yelling at her ever since. "Neither of you are wearing any underwear! He's Sirius Black for crying out loud! The biggest man-whore in the school! You're a virgin for god's sake!"

"Lily! He really was about to take me down to dinner! I also told him that I was a virgin and in effect not ready to change that status! We weren't going to do anything! Do you really think that he is callous enough to take a girl's virginity in a closet?" she took a deep breath to calm down; her friends were staring at her. "I'm going to the kitchens to get some food as I missed dinner." She changed into a shorter skirt and put some underwear on before walking out of the girls' dorms. She didn't notice James and Sirius sitting in the common room, staring at the stairs to the girls' dorms as she walked through the common room and out the portrait hole. Her happy mood was destroyed as she snuck through the dark and quiet castle. She went into the dungeons and tickled the pear on the right painting. It swung open and she stepped inside. She stopped as she saw Dumbledore sitting at a table.

"Miss Stark, please, join me, I could use the company."

"Ah…"

"It's quite alright. I presume that you missed dinner as well, unless you are here for a snack."

"No, I missed my dinner. Lily was a little angry with me for something that she blew out of proportion," she sat down and an elf brought her a bowl of mac and cheese. "Thank you Hans."

"You know the elves by name?"

"Just a few. Mostly the ones that used to work at the manor. I sent them here to work with your permission."

"Of course, I had forgotten. How have you been for the past three and a half years?"

"As well as can be expected. I still have nightmares about that night. My friends are very close to me, but I can't bring myself to tell them about it."

"Not many would be able to tell anyone about what you saw, yet you told me and the minister and you didn't even know who we were at the time. I hear that you and Mr. Black went an entire day without fighting once."

"In a manner. We did fight, just not verbally," she smiled slightly and Dumbledore knew that he had been right once again. He had guessed that Willow and Sirius would fall for each other, and the same went for Lily and James, he was just waiting for the four to realise their feelings.

"Well, I better go. I have homework to do," he watched her walked out of the kitchen. For a Gryffindor, she was very studious.


	12. Chapter 10

Sirius found Willow in the library after an hour of searching; Peter had gotten the Marauders map confiscated by Filch. Will was sitting under a window, reading and taking notes. There was a slight frown on her face and she was chewing on her bottom lip a little.

"Bloody Binns," she hissed as he sat opposite her, she didn't even glance up at him; she already knew who it was.

"Will you go to Hogsmeade with me next trip?" he asked and her head snapped up. She blinked at him.

"I will if James isn't holding Quidditch practice."

"You wouldn't skip training?"

"No, the trip is the weekend before our match against Slytherin. I really want to pound that brother of yours into the mud," she grinned evilly at him. And if he didn't dislike his brother so much at that moment he would have felt sorry for the boy.

"Ah, I really do like watching you dirty up my little brother," Sirius said with a grin. She laughed and turned back to her assignment.

"What's he got you doing?"

"The same thing that you are meant to be doing."

"But I don't want to do it. It isn't worth my time when it is impossible to listen to the dead sod," she looked at him. "What?"

"You may have just saved my perfect grade," she quickly wrote another paragraph and signed her name at the bottom. She put the book that she had been ready from away with a flick of her wand and packed up the rest of her stuff. She stood and he stood with her. He took her bag and she kissed his cheek.

"Thank you for that," she said, ignoring the looks that the Sirius Black fan girls were giving her. He put his arm around her waist and they walked out of the library.

"You're welcome, but I'm not entirely sure what I did."

"You don't need to be," she said with a laugh. He grinned down at her and gave the password to the fat lady who was grinning at them like she was the happiest person on earth. They received quite a few stares from their fellow Gryffindors and she blushed.

"See you in the morning," Willow murmured as she took her bag from him. He followed her to the stairs and stopped her as she made to go up.

"What?" she asked, confused.

"This," he kissed her. She was bright red when he released her.

"Goodnight," she mumbled and went up the stairs. Sirius turned to the common room, it was dead silent.

"What?" he demanded and everyone went back to what they were doing. Sirius went over to James and Remus.

"So, you and Will are together then?" James asked.

"She's agreed to go to Hogsmeade with me on the next trip if you aren't being Captain Blood and having another practice before the match against Slytherin."

"I won't be," a silly grin spread across James' face and Sirius' eyes widened.

"Evens finally agreed?"

"Actually, she asked me, I said no."

"What?"

"Relax, I then asked her the today, and she said yes."

"Yeah, then punched him in the arm for making her believe that she had stuffed everything up," Remus murmured with a grin. Sirius laughed hard. None of the boys saw the two girls sneak out of the girls' dorms and out of the common room.

Willow jerked upright as someone poked her in the ribs.

"Waz-a-mada?" She slurred and James laughed as he sat on her left, Sirius sat on her other side and Remus sat opposite them.

"You need to eat your breakfast, not sleep in it," Remus said with a laugh.

"Easy for ye ta say, ye dinnae have yer friends talkin' ta all hours of the nigh' talkin' abou' the other sex," her Irish accent was showing itself in her half-asleep state. She ate her food all the same, then dropped her head onto James' shoulder.

"Get off, I ain't your pillow," he said, so she lifted her head and let it drop onto the shoulder on her right.

"Are you going to be able to play at all?" Sirius asked, looking down at the top of her head.

"Yes," she said defensively. "I would be fine if I had remembered to go ask Greta for my special coffee. I usually have it before I compete in a surf comp." her eyes were closed so she didn't see the large cup appear on the table, with her name written on the side of it.

"Ah, Willow?"

"What Jamesie-poo?"

"Stop calling me that, and open your eyes," she did and saw the beverage, a smile split her lips.

"Greta rocks," she said and down half the hot liquid. "Ah, perfect. You won't like it." Sirius was sniffing at the drink, he took a sip and Willow barely managed to save her drink as he started choking.

"I told you so," she smirked at him and drank some more of her drink.

"What's in that?" James asked as his friends started chugging pumpkin juice from the jug.

"Coffee, water, milk, sugar and a potion that my father used to put in my drink so that you had to deal with me being all hyper. It is a great pick-me-up, but it is an acquired taste," she shrugged and finished the drink. "Are you okay Sirius?"

"Never, ever, under any circumstance give me that bloody drink," the team laughed and Willow kissed his cheek.

"You'll live," she said and he glared at her, the look was spoiled a bit by the tears in his eyes. She laughed and James sighed.

"Let's go," he said. The seven scarlet clad players grabbed their brooms and walked out of the hall.

Will belted the Bludger at the Slytherin Seeker, she hadn't been joking when she told Sirius that she wanted to pound his brother into the mud. Mother Nature seemed to be on her side, it had been raining for the past week, so the pitch was nice and muddy.

"Willow, aim for the other bloody players!" James yelled at her as he came closer and dodged a Bludger.

"But I wanna dirty his pretty face, and hair and robes and, well, everything," she pouted and he sighed.

"I know you do, but Padfoot is the only one watching over our chasers, and keeper and me."

"Oops, my bad. I should really know this by now. Sorry Jamesie-poo."

"Stop calling me that!" he yelled at her, she laughed and flew off to help Sirius.

"GRYFFINDOR WINS!" Remus shouted over the speaker and a huge roar erupted from all but the Slytherins. Willow saw James land and Lily run up to him. It didn't surprise her when the pair kissed, and she wolf-whistled with the rest of the team, then laughed as Lily flipped her off. Someone stepped before her and she looked up at Sirius. She grinned at him as he put his arms around her, hers went around his neck.

"We won, we won the Quidditch Cup and hopefully if you lot don't pull any pranks, the House Cup," she grinned up at him and he grinned back, then kissed her. She ignored the whistles and catcalls and kissed him back. They pulled apart and followed the crowd back to the castle.


	13. Chapter 11

Sirius looked around the empty common room and went over to the darkest corner. He knew that Willow would be returning to the common room in a few minutes, so he was waiting to surprise her. She walked into the common room and he pounced on her, covering her mouth with his to stop her from screaming. She relaxed instantly and he leaned back a little.

"Were you trying to give me heart failure before I complete my NEWTs?" she asked, he grinned sheepishly.

"No, I wanted to surprise you. Go put your stuff in your room and come back down here," he kissed her again and she sighed.

"Okay, can I change into my pyjamas?"

"Sure," she kissed his cheek and went up to her dorm. She came back down ten minutes later and he pulled her under the invisibility cloak. He led her out of the common room and down to the fifth floor.

"Sirius, where are we going?" she asked as they stopped before a blank wall.

"One second. Close your eyes for a minute," he said, so she did. "You can open then now." She did and stared at the door that now stood before them.

"This castle still manages to surprise me and it's been seven years," she whispered, Sirius laughed and walked up to the door. He opened it and let her go in first. She stared around at the meadow that they were now in. she looked at Sirius as he walked but beside her.

"How is this possible?" she asked.

"This is the Room of Requirement, we discovered it in year two when we were trying to get away from Filch. We've been using it ever since and it has been a great find. It seems to do everything."

"So if I wanted a rug to sit on so that I could look at the hills without standing on my tired legs, I'd get it?"

"Yes, see?" he pointed and she saw that there was a rug on the ground. Sirius smiled at her and led her over to it. They sat down and he put an arm around her waist, she rested her head on his shoulder and sighed in contentment.

"We haven't spent that much time together lately, have we?" Sirius asked her.

"No, we haven't. I think it has more to do with NEWTs, classes and Quidditch than us personally. We spend what time we can together. I can't wait for NEWTs to be over, then we don't have anymore classes either," she looked at him with a slight smile and he kissed her again. He lay her down as he deepened the kiss and she put her arms around his shoulders. One of his arms kept his weight off her; the other ran up and down her side. They pulled apart slightly and she smiled at him. He pulled her shirt off and ran his hands over her bare skin, she moved slightly and her hip brush the part of him that was showing that he was enjoying this. She giggled slightly and pulled his shirt off.

"Merlin's pants I love that you're a Quidditch player," she whispered as she ran her hands over his chest and abs. He leaned down and kissed her neck. She moaned slightly as he bit her at the junction between her neck and shoulder, and soothed it with his tongue.

"Will, I love your pyjamas, so easy to remove," he whispered as he nipped her again and was rewarded with another moan. He chuckled and slowly kissed his way up her neck, across her jaw and finally he caught her lips again. He slowly moved his hands down her sides to the waistband of her pants. He looked at her; asking her without words if she would let him remove them. She nodded slightly and he pulled them down. He kissed his way back up to her lips. She looked at him and grinned at him. She gripped his arm and rolled them over so that she was on top. She leaned over him to retrieve her wand from her pants pocket. Sirius looked at her questioningly and she smiled at him. Shee pointed her wand at her stomach and muttered a spell that Martha had taught her under her breath.

"I don't feel like getting pregnant and you're wearing too much," she said and moved to remove his pants. He caught her hands.

"Love, I'm not wearing anything under these," he said and she grinned.

"All the more reason to remove them," she said and pulled her hands free. She removed his pants and felt her breath catch as she saw his erection. He pulled her back up and rolled her underneath him. She smiled at him and he kissed her. He removed her bra and she looked up at him.

"Are we really going to do this?" she asked softly.

"Only if you want to," he whispered in her ear. She put her arms around his neck and kissed him. He moved his hands down her body and over her bottom. He moaned as he felt the very little fabric cover her. She giggled slightly and he bit her shoulder in retaliation. She gasped and her hips jerked upwards, pressing against him and causing him to groan again. He removed her panties and kissed his way down her body, pausing at her breasts and the ring in her belly-button before reaching the apex of her thighs. He looked up at her as she lifted herself onto her elbows. He used a finger to split her folds and she fell back down again. He grinned at her and lowered his head. Her hips bucked at the first stroke of his tongue and he held them down as he worked on her. He knew when she was almost at her peak. He came back over her and kissed her. He used his thumb to throw her over the edge. He caught her screams in his mouth. She went boneless underneath him and he suckled on the side of her neck. She put her arms around his neck and he kissed her on the lips.

"That... that was... new," she whispered and he grinned.

"Do you want to continue?" she nodded her head and he smiled at her. He kissed her as he used his thumb to work her up again. She moved one of her hands down his chest, over his stomach and gently gripped him. He groaned and pushed into her hold. He pulled her hand away and lined himself up with her.

"Are you sure you want this Willow?" he asked.

"I wouldn't be here if I wasn't," she said. He smiled at her and kissed her as he surged into her. He caught her cry of pain with his lips and waited until she had adjusted to him. He wiped away the tears in her eyes and kissed her gently. Her hips moved slightly and he looked into her eyes.

"We're all good," she whispered, he moved slightly and she gasped, he smiled and moved faster. Her head went back as he continued to move and he kissed her neck. He knew that she was reaching her peak again and knew that he was reaching his as well. her nails dug into his back as her back arched. He buried himself in her and cried out with her as they climaxed. He eventually stopped shuddering and looked down at Willow. She smiled sleepily at him and he kissed her softly. He pulled out of her and lay on his back next to her. She snuggled up against his side, head on his shoulder, hand on his chest and a leg over one of his legs. He held her close.

"I've never felt anything like that," she said sleepily and he smiled. He held her as she fell asleep. He smiled and closed is own eyes. He woke her up a few hours later and said that they should probably get back to the common room. She grumbled a little, but still got dressed and left with him under the invisibility cloak. Sirius kissed her at the bottom of the stairs to the girls' dorm and she kissed him back.

"See you in the morning," he said and she smiled.

"See you in the morning," she replied and kissed him again before going up to her bed.

"I hate bloody NEWTs" Mary groaned as she and Willow joined their other friends under the tree by the lake.

"Uh-huh," Willow lay down in the sun and closed her eyes.

"At least it's more peaceful than OWLs year. Lily and James aren't fighting all the time," Aisling murmured.

"No, they're snogging instead," Alice laughed.

"Hey," Lily complained. "I take offence to that. We mostly talk or study. And what about Willowbee and Sirius?"

"What about us? He respects my wishes to study. We haven't spent that much time alone in the last couple of weeks," she was extremely proud of herself for not going red, she had spent a good four hours alone with Sirius the night before doing things other than study.

"What about Frank and Alice?" the girl in question went bright red and the others laughed. They couldn't ask any more questions as the boys joined them.

"What're you all doing?" James asked as he sat next to Lily.

"Relaxing," Mary looked down with a slight blush as Dimitri sat next to her. Frank sat by Alice who moved closer and rested her head against his shoulder. Erick sat near Aisling and Ian by Martha. Remus and Peter sat by Lily and James. Sirius stood in Willow's sun. She cracked an eye and looked up at him.

"Move it or lose it buster," she said and he quickly sat down, the others laughed. The girls could tell that she was missing the beach.

"Who wants to go for a swim?"

"Aisling, I swear you are insane sometimes. None of us are wearing our swimmers, and I ain't had enough to drink to go skinny dipping around these lads, and they aren't seeing my knickers either," Mary sighed and moved to lie down next to Willow.

"Amen to that," Willow muttered as the boys looked at each of the girls.

"What if we wore our clothes?" Alice asked softly.

"White shirts, Allie," Lily murmured sleepily.

"Oh, right. What exams do you lot have left? I've got Divination and Ancient Runes," Alice smiled as Frank put his arm around her waist.

"History of Magic and Muggle Studies," Willow stretched and rolled over to warm her back, resting her head on her crossed arms.

"I got Ancient Runes and Astronomy," Mary muttered.

"Same as Mary, as well as Divination," Aisling yawned and her head dropped onto Erick's shoulder, much to his surprise.

"I got Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures," Martha also yawned.

"Herbology and nothing else," Lily was practically falling asleep on James' shoulder, he didn't seem to mind.

"Remus and Peter have Astronomy; Ian has Care of Magical Creatures. Erick, Frank and Dimitri have Astronomy and Herbology. James has History of Magic and Astronomy. I've got History of Magic and Muggle Studies," Sirius answered for all of the boys. "What are you all planning on doing once you graduate?"

"I'm gonna try out for the Bats, if that doesn't work, I'll try other teams. I can always surf professionally until I get on a team."

"The Ballycastle Bats? You still go for them? I thought you beat it out of her Prongs."

"They're my team, so sod off."

"Well, now that we all know that Willow is very thingy about her team," Lily was grinning and Will flipped her off without opening her eyes. "I want to be a Healer. I hope I got all the points that I need." It was clear to all the girls that Lily was moments from falling asleep.

"Knowing you, Lils, you did," Mary mumbled. "I wanna be a teacher in the muggle world."

"I'm trying out for Auror," Sirius, James, Frank, Dimitri and Martha said at the same time. Everyone laughed. They were interrupted by the screech of an owl.

"Bit late for mail, isn't it?" Willow rolled over and cracked an eye at Martha's question, then scrambled to her feet. The owl landed on her arm as she held it out. She took the letter from the owl.

"Go to the owlry V, I'll bring you a treat later," she murmured to the owl, it nipped her ear and flew off. Willow opened the letter and her eyes widened. She walked off without saying a word to anyone.

"I wonder what happened this time," Mary muttered with a frown, watching her friend enter the castle. Sirius stood and casually walked off, only glancing at James and Remus.


	14. Chapter 12

Willow went straight to Dumbledore and gave him the letter.

"Is this true? Do I have a brother who is in the clutches of my aunt?"

"Yes."

"Get him, you should have told me about him when he was born," her eyes were like rock. He sighed and stood up.

"Minerva, please take Miss Stark to my office. If Mr. Black should happen to come by, let him go as well, if Miss Stark wishes it," he turned and walked away. Will grabbed the letter off the table and followed McGonagall. Sirius joined them on the second floor. Willow took his hand and he gave it a squeeze, knowing that something had happened to shake her normally stable foundations. Once in Dumbledore's office McGonagall left and Willow told Sirius what had happened. He was shocked at first, but that didn't last long. He had met her aunt and he was just as angry as Will appeared to be. He told her that he would always be there to help her. She smiled at him and they hugged. It was two hours before Dumbledore returned. She looked at the little boy that was in his arms and felt tears come to her eyes, he looked like her father. The boy looked at her and grinned, Dumbledore handed the four-year-old to his sister and sat at his desk.

"Are you my sister?" he asked and she sat down.

"Yes, I'm Willow, what's your name?"

"Thom," his grin was cheeky and she knew that he was going to be a lot like she was at his age.

"How much do you know about our family?"

"Mommy and daddy are dead. Is Julian coming?" she felt her heart restrict and looked at Dumbledore.

"I didn't tell him anything, it was all Beatrice," he said.

"No, Julian won't be coming, and he's not at home."

"Oh. Who he?" Thom pointed at Sirius.

"That's Sirius."

"Hello," Sirius said and Thom smiled at him.

"Hello," he said to Sirius before looking at Willow again. "I'm really tired, can I go to bed?"

"Ah…" Dumbledore motioned to a door behind him and she stood. She looked and saw the bed. She put Thom in it and tucked him in.

"Okay, you go to sleep; I'll be here with you when you wake up."

"Okay, nigh-night Willow," he closed his eyes and was a sleep almost instantly. She kissed his forehead and walked out again, closing the door behind her. She went back to her seat and looked at Dumbledore.

"You'll be taking both your History of Magic exam and Muggle Studies exam in a few moments. There are four heads dorms in the school. Mr. Potter and Miss Evans have one at the moment, arrangements have been made for you to use one of the others until you graduate and leave. As you have no classes after you complete these exams, you will have to look after your brother and not have any of the teachers babysit."

"I wouldn't ask them to anyway. I can't tell him about Julian, I can barely think about Julian without some kind of mental stress. He's going to ask where Julian is and I won't be able to answer."

"Would you like me to tell him?"

"No, no one should tell him but me, I was there after all," she took a deep breath and pushed the memories that threatened to overtake her mind back into the box that she had locked them in many years ago. There was a knock and two examiners walked in. they put four tests on Dumbledore's desk and walked out again.

"Mr. Black, I thought that it would be best if you did your tests as well," two desks appeared before Willow and Sirius, as did their History of Magic tests and quills and ink pots. They silently did their tests and were given their Muggle Studies tests. When they had finished the examiners came back and took the papers. Willow stood and stretched before going to check on her brother. He was still asleep. Sirius walked past her and gently picked the little boy up. A house-elf was waiting to show them to their rooms. Willow followed next to Sirius. The elf gave them the password and left. Sirius took Thom up to one of the bedrooms and put the kid in the bed, he smiled when he saw that it had guard rails to prevent the kid from falling out and hurting himself. Sirius came back out and saw tears on Willow's cheeks. He walked over to her and pulled her into his arms. She put her arms around his waist and hid her face against his chest.

"How could I not have realised that I had a brother?" she asked after a while.

"How could you know if no one told you that you had one?" she shook her head, but there was no conviction in the move. "I should be getting to bed."

"Don't go, please?" she looked up at him with pleading eyes, and he couldn't say no to her. They went to the other bedroom and lay down on the bed.

"Do you remember what you said to me at my house after he died?"

"Which bit?"

"About not showing weakness."

"Yes, why?"

"I never thought you were weak. Every time I wanted to cry I thought about what you went through and I could prevent it. You're my rock Siri, you always have been," he pulled her closer at her words and felt her tremble.

"It's alright to cry Will," he whispered into her ear, and she did. He held her closer and her body shook. She eventually ran out of tears and her breathing evened out, he knew that she had fallen asleep. He was surprised; she normally couldn't fall asleep that easily, not unless it was James that was holding her. He smiled, realising that she trusted him enough to fall asleep in his arms without any trouble. He closed his eyes and let slumber claim him as well.

Mary and Lily were sitting at the Gryffindor table, contemplating a search party for Willow and Sirius, when the pair walked in. They stared as they saw a little boy walking between the two, his hand clutching at Willow's robes. She lifted him onto the bench and sat next to him.

"Lily, Mary, this is Thom, my little brother," she introduced them. "Thom, these are my best friends, Lily and Mary."

"Hello," he smiled shyly and the two girls smiled. James walked down the aisle and sat next to Lily, then stared at the boy who was sitting next to Will.

"He… he looks like…" his eyes jumped to Willow.

"James, my brother Thom. This is our cousin, Thom, James Potter. James, say hello," both boys were staring at each other. The girls laughed and James blinked.

"Hey, mate," he said to the kid. Thom smiled and looked up at Willow.

"I can't see the food," he looked so innocent, she grinned and looked up at the head table. Dumbledore's eyes twinkled and a booster seat appeared on the seat besides Will. She lifted Thom onto her knee and Sirius put the seat into place. Thom settled into the booster seat and looked at the food. Will knew that many students in the hall were casting her curious looks, but didn't honestly care.


	15. Epilogue

EPILOGUE

Sirius watched as the Bludger hit Willow's arm, saw the pain flash across her face before she belted the bludger at the opposite teams seeker. She looked at her captain and signalled that her arm was broken. He called timeout and the team landed. Sirius saw Lily walk over to her friend. She fixed the arm, and then scowled at Willow, obviously not happy about something. They exchanged words and Lily threw her arms into the air, shook her finger at Willow and left the pitch. The team flew into the air again and the game continued. An hour later Willow's team won. Lily grabbed Willow by the arm and pulled her off the pitch. Sirius glanced at James and the two went down to the healers' tent.

"How could you be so irresponsible!" they heard Lily yelling.

"Lils, calm down. It's not that bad. There are players who have been eight months along and still played."

"You aren't other players!"

"I know Lily," Willow's voice was quiet.

"Lily, why are you yelling at my woman?" Sirius asked as he and James walked into the tent.

"Please don't spill Lils, I haven't gotten around to it yet," Willow looked at Lily with pleading eyes. She sighed and stormed out of the tent. James followed.

"Why was she yelling at you?"

"I-may-have-neglected-to-tell-you-that-I'm-going-to-be-having-a-baby," she rushed and he started at her.

"Wanna repeat that at a slower pace?"

"I may have neglected to tell you that I'm going to have a baby," she looked down and he stared at her.

"And you went flying?" he yelled, she flinched and he took a deep breath. "Sorry. Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"Because you are doing field training and I didn't want to distract you when you are facing Death Eaters," she still didn't look at him and he realised that he hadn't actually told her that he was ecstatic about her being pregnant. He took three huge steps and pulled her into his arms.

"It wouldn't distract me, it would just make me more determined to not get hurt," he lifted her chin and kissed her. "Now, I was going to wait until Christmas to do this, but I think now is the perfect time." She watched as he went down on his knee and pulled out a box from his robes.

"Will you, Willow Anne Stark, make me the happiest man on earth and marry me?" he opened the box and she stared at the ring inside. It was a simple silver band with three small rubies and two small diamonds on the band in a row. She couldn't speak, so she nodded. He grinned and slipped the ring onto her finger. She threw her arms around him and kissed him. Lily and James walked back in.

"Oi! Stop it! That's what started all this in the first place!" Lily clearly hadn't calmed down. Willow looked at her.

"Hey, Lils, do you wanna be godmother?"

"Same for you Prongs, except godfather instead of mother," Sirius added. The couple was silent, then Lily threw her arms around Willow. James laughed and clapped Sirius on the shoulder.

"James, I expect you to give me away to Sirius," Willow smirked at her cousin; he sighed and cuffed Sirius over the back of the head. Lily seemed to have forgotten her anger. Willow extracted herself from her grip.

"I just have to go to the team meeting; I'll be back in an hour. Try not to kill each other," she kissed Sirius and walked out of the tent. She went to the other tent and sat at her spot.

"We were wondering if you were going to join us," the captain said, she poked her tongue out at him. "Well, today's match was a success; we will be starting training for our next match in two weeks. If any of you have a problem with that speak now or forever hold your peace."

"I have a slight problem, well; actually, it's your problem. I have to resign from the team."

"What? Why?" the captain yelled and Willow pulled a face.

"I'm pregnant and as my healer pointed out, I'm not like most players, I won't be able to play in matches, and in a few months I won't be able to fly at all. All the women in my family have had complicated pregnancies. Sorry, but that's the way it is. You'll have to find another beater."

"Why now? Why did you have to get pregnant now?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't realise that I had full control over my bodily functions," the team snickered as the captain blushed. "I'll keep in contact with you all and you should all expect invitations."

"Invitations? To what?"

"Well, I really don't expect my child to be born out of wedlock, so, think about it," she smiled at her team as they thought and walked out.

"You're getting married?" she heard the captain yell; she laughed and walked back into the healers tent. Sirius pulled her into his arms and she grinned up at him.

"Let's go home," she whispered and he grinned. Lily and James watched as the two disaparated and looked at each other. Lily stepped into James' arms and he kissed her gently.

* * *

><p>"Sirius Orion Black! You are going to die!" Sirius looked at his best friend in worry. Willow had gone into labour six hours ago, and she had been threatening to do him bodily harm for the past hour. James was wondering if Sirius would live after this night. Another scream came from the room and he saw his best mate pale more.<p>

"Are you alright Sirius?"

"She's having twins, she's going to kill me when she can walk again," his voice was soft and filled with fear.

Willow looked at the little boy that she had given birth to and smiled, then screamed as another contraction.

"Sirius! That dick of yours is never coming near me again!" she screamed and she heard a thump outside of the room.

"I think he just fell off of his chair, either he or James did," Lily said with a grin.

"Either one is fine with me, and I meant what I said about his dick, arrrgh!" she screamed again, then went limp on the bed. "I hate fucking labour."

"Just a few more minutes and it'll be over."

"You said that two fucking hours ago!" she yelled at Lily and followed it with another scream. Lily was right though, five minutes later she gave birth to a baby girl. She relaxed in the bed and drank the potion that Lily handed to her.

"Can I let Sirius in now?"

"Yeah, I kind of need him to help me name them," she smiled weakly and Lily opened the door.

"You can come in Sirius," she said. He walked in and looked at his wife.

"Come over here and give me a hug," she murmured. He did as she said. Lily came back in with another witch.

"Would you like to name your children now?"

"Yes," Willow smiled. The little boy was placed in her arms and the girl in Sirius'.

"They're so little," he looked awestruck.

"What would you like to name your son?"

"Julian George Black," Sirius said and Willow looked up at him, tears in her eyes. James had entered the room behind the witch. He didn't know what significance 'Julian' had, but he knew that George had been her father.

"And your daughter?"

"Islana Thorn Black," Willow said, Sirius nodded and looked down at his daughter, she opened her eyes and looked up at him. He chuckled.

"What?" Willow frowned at him.

"She has my eyes, does our son have yours?"

"I don't know, he hasn't opened them."

"Yes, he does," Lily said. "But he has Sirius' volume in vocal cords." They all laughed.

"Who are the godparents?"

"Lily and James Potter," Willow said immediately. The witch nodded and tapped her wand to the two documents before her. Willow and Sirius signed them, then Lily and James signed them.

* * *

><p>Willow sat in the nursery with her one-year-old daughter, tears rolling down her cheeks. The deaths of Lily and James Potter floated over the Wizarding Wireless, as did the news that Sirius Black had gone to Azkaban for betraying them and killing thirteen muggles and Peter Pettigrew. She knew that she could go in and get everything rectified as far as Sirius' betraying Lily and James, but he would still be in Azkaban for the murder of fourteen people. And she had her children and little brother to think about.<p>

"Please forgive me Siri, I don't know any other way to do this," she whispered into the night. She went back to flying six months later. A hit by a bludger high up in the air caused her to fall to her death when Thom was fourteen. The twins were eight, Aiden six. Thom, Julian and Aiden were sent to different foster homes. Islana was sent to different homes as well, but she was always sent back to the agency. Thom managed to keep in contact with his nieces and nephew.

The end


End file.
